Zscaler Cloud Security: A Game Changer for NEC Group's Global Cloud Users

NEC Corporation is a global business with over 300 group companies worldwide and 110,000 employees. The company is driving a cloud shift to enable work style innovations and DX (Digital Transformation). NEC Group is promoting a “social solution business” globally, that co-creates with customers and society to establish social values such as safety, security, efficiency, and fairness. While aiming to create an efficient and sophisticated society in which we can live harmoniously and pleasantly, NEC Group is also accelerating its efforts toward “work style innovations” and “DX”. In this regard, it is necessary for all employees to shift their IT environment to the cloud, as well as promote a multi-device operation in order to realize collaboration and work execution in the digital space.

NEC Corporation, a global business with over 300 group companies worldwide and 110,000 employees, was driving a cloud shift to enable work style innovations and digital transformation (DX). The company aimed to provide comfort and security simultaneously when connecting to the cloud. The challenge was to migrate their network infrastructure, including the internet gateway, to a secure cloud environment. This was necessary to realize a work style that was not constrained by time or place. The company faced difficulties in detecting cyberattacks and malware downloads due to the encryption of web traffic. About 90% of their web traffic was SSL, and approximately 80% of malware communication used SSL, which was often used for cyberattacks. Traditional security solutions that did not support SSL visualization could not detect malware. The company also aimed to ease internet traffic by significantly shifting the IT environment from on-premises to the cloud, ensuring application performance was not interrupted by security regulations and maintaining a user-friendly state even when traffic drastically increased.

In July 2017, NEC decided to introduce Zscaler Cloud Security based on the renewed concept as it pertains to the internet gateway. Zscaler Cloud Security provided secure web access regardless of location or time. It enabled a unified security policy not only in Japan but also overseas. Its ability to achieve both performance and security around the world greatly influenced NEC's decision in terms of infrastructure. The SSL visualization technology and scalability offered by the Zscaler Cloud Security Solution improved employee comfort and security. After launching Zscaler Cloud Security in April 2018, there were some challenges due to the scale of migration. However, the transition eventually moved into a stable period characterized by smooth internet connection and improved speed, especially during peak periods. The company also benefited from SSL visualization, which enhanced comfort while maintaining security.

• The introduction of Zscaler Cloud Security has brought about significant operational results for NEC. The company has been able to maintain a user-friendly state even when traffic drastically increases, thereby improving the overall user experience. The SSL visualization technology offered by Zscaler has enhanced comfort while maintaining security, such as releasing technical SNS sites for research and developers and releasing YouTube for viewing business videos, which were previously subject to severe restrictions. This has changed many users’ perception of the IT initiative adopted by the information system department. Furthermore, Zscaler Cloud Security does not require local equipment installation, and allows NEC to directly see the communication status/malware detection status at all deployed overseas locations. This has made it easier for the company to determine which country’s network is dangerous or secure, thereby improving their ability to respond to security incidents.

• Web access response improved to the level where it can be proven quantitatively.
• The download time was greatly reduced by 60-70% after switching to Zscaler Cloud Security.
• The number of overseas users reached 6,000 as of December 2019, and the company is aiming to deploy to 15,000 users by the end of 2020.