George Sink Law Firm + Duo

Challenges:

George Sink needed a solution that mitigated the company’s exposure to phishing attacks while reducing user fatigue associated with constant MFA (multi-factor authentication) prompts.

External factors also led them to this decision. With MFA mandated by multiple vendors as well as internal policy compliance, George Sink primarily required a seamless integration for a smooth user experience.

On top of this, balancing secure remote access with user privacy was crucial. Traditional MDM (mobile device management) solutions were not ideal for the firm due to privacy concerns associated with wiping a user's personal device upon separation from the company.

Duo's Solution:

After evaluating their options, the staff at George Sink soon discovered that Duo's comprehensive security solutions addressed their challenges in several ways:

• Meaningful MFA with Risk-Based Approach: Duo offers a variety of authentication options along with risk-based authentication (RBA) and risk-based remembered devices. This reduces MFA fatigue for users while maintaining a strong security posture. Additionally, Duo Passport functionality ensures seamless transitions between remembered devices.
• Trusted Endpoints in a Zero Trust Environment: Duo integrates with organizations’ existing IT stacks, allowing for trusted endpoint compliance within a zero trust security model.
• BYOD Security without Compromising Privacy: Duo's bring-your-own-device (BYOD)-friendly approach enables secure access without requiring data storage on personal devices. This balances security needs with user privacy concerns.
• Simple and Powerful Integrations: Duo integrates seamlessly with virtually any application, including Microsoft RDP services, Winlogon, Umbrella SIG, and Identity Providers (IdPs). This streamlines security management.
• Identity Security with Cisco Identity Intelligence (CII): CII provides a unified view of data from Duo and Azure, offering comprehensive visibility into user activity and identity-based threats.

Benefits for George Sink:

After implementing Duo, the offices of George Sink Law began to see the benefits almost immediately. Not only did their security posture become more robust, taking the added burden away from their IT and security teams, but the login experience for end users was also improved.

Specifically, the benefits they started seeing included:

• Improved User Experience: Duo's flexible approach allows George Sink to customize the user experience and MFA interaction based on specific contexts and types of users.
• Granular and Strong Access Policies: Granular control over access policies allowed George Sink to enact more targeted security measures based on user roles and behaviors.
• Advanced Threat Detection: Enhanced by Cisco Identity Intelligence technology, Duo delivers advanced protection against identity-based threats. It goes beyond basic logon monitoring, analyzing login attempts for suspicious patterns.
• Compliance Assistance: Duo provides insights into user device compliance such as biometric authentication requirements. This simplifies George Sink’s compliance management.
• Reduced Operational Burden: Duo's robust features and ongoing innovation allow George Sink to focus on other priorities, trusting Duo to handle the heavy lifting of identity management and security.

A Strategic Investment

As Timothy Mullen, CIO at George Sink, stated:

“I don't think solely in terms of value proposition back to the business, I classify robust iDp as a required solution. Even so, Duo allows me to get the most out of the money that I'm spending while also adding to the business.”

Mullen further emphasized the importance of having Duo as a trusted partner:

“Partnering with Duo provides our team with trusted resources that help take part in the heavy-lifting some our more complex integrations require. Being able to count on our Duo support team to ensure our approaches are solid is outstanding.”

Duo's comprehensive security solutions have not only strengthened George Sink's cybersecurity posture but have also freed up valuable resources for the IT team, allowing them to focus on strategic initiatives. By partnering with Duo, George Sink has made a strategic investment in its cybersecurity infrastructure, ensuring the protection of sensitive data and maintaining a competitive advantage.