Multinational Luxury Goods Company Protects Its External Attack Surface with ZeroFox

In today's hyper-connected world, securing a sprawling external attack surface is not just a luxury; it is a necessity. For a global luxury conglomerate with a diverse portfolio of renowned brands and a vast digital footprint, this challenge carries even greater significance.

About the Client

The client is a multinational luxury goods company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing high-end fashion, leather goods, and jewelry. It operates an extensive portfolio of prestigious brands across 1,200+ stores.

Challenges in Managing External Cyber Risks

As a global organization managing multiple high-value brands, the client faced significant challenges in securing its vast digital attack surface. The scale of digital assets, including hundreds of websites across various brands—each with differing architectures, technologies, and security postures—created a complex web of online presences. This fragmented digital ecosystem, with varying levels of security maturity and compliance, resulted in significant blind spots that hindered overall security visibility and control.

The organization faced significant hurdles in securing its vast external attack surface, including:

1. Lack of Visibility: Defining and detecting the full attack surface was challenging due to the breadth of its brand portfolio.
2. Asset Management: Identifying and managing temporary and permanent digital assets across multiple brands proved complex.
3. Resource Constraints: Limited analyst resources necessitated prioritization of vulnerability mitigation.
4. Asset Ownership: There was a need for centralized insight into asset ownership and exposure across brands.

The initial state of the external attack surface reflected a common challenge faced by many large, diversified organizations. Rapid growth and the evolution of the digital footprint had outpaced the implementation of a unified and comprehensive security strategy. This lack of visibility highlighted the urgent need for a cohesive and efficient approach to digital attack surface management. As a result, the organization decided to conduct a comprehensive review of available solutions and began the process of selecting and implementing a robust digital security platform.

The Search for a Digital Security Platform 

Previously, the organization utilized multiple providers, for exposure management and for digital risk protection. However, these providers fell short in providing the necessary visibility due to licensing restrictions and lacked effective remediation recommendations for efficient collaboration among cross-functional teams. 

In response to these limitations, decision-makers, led by the Cyber Threat Intelligence Leader, initiated a formal request for proposals (RFP) to identify a comprehensive solution. The RFP specified the need for Digital Risk Protection (DRP), Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), and External Attack Surface Management (EASM) integrated into a single digital platform. Given its status as a global luxury conglomerate, the organization required a technology partner capable of understanding its unique needs and managing its complex brand portfolio.

The response to the RFP was impressive, with numerous vendors submitting proposals in hopes of winning the business. Each proposal underwent a thorough evaluation process and was assessed meticulously against predetermined criteria. A dedicated evaluation team, composed of security professionals, IT analysts, and business representatives, carefully reviewed each submission. Ultimately, they narrowed the field down to five providers.

Decision to Partner with ZeroFox

After a thorough evaluation process, ZeroFox clearly emerged as the top choice. Its comprehensive digital coverage, strong integration capabilities, and sophisticated AI-driven remediation recommendations—coupled with a strong emphasis on support and a competitive pricing structure—made it the ideal solution. The decision was based on a compelling combination of factors that aligned perfectly with the organization's requirements and priorities, rather than a single attribute.

The organization selected ZeroFox as its unified digital security platform for several reasons:

• Brand Protection: ZeroFox's robust digital risk protection (DRP) features, including counterfeit detection, account takeover monitoring, and adversary disruption, are closely aligned with their internal requirements for brand integrity.
• Improved Visibility: ZeroFox provided scalable, comprehensive external attack surface visibility and coverage.
• Hastened Remediation: ZeroFox's AI-driven remediation recommendations surpassed those of competitors.
• Unified Vulnerability Management: Integration with Vulcan streamlined vulnerability data, enabling the organization to efficiently prioritize and address remediation efforts.
• Contractual Requirements: ZeroFox accommodated its contractual needs, including payment in Euros and adherence to local law.

Implementation and Key Benefits

The strong relationship with ZeroFox became evident throughout this process.

The ZeroFox team provided invaluable expert guidance and technical assistance whenever challenges arose. The realized benefits include:

1. Improved Asset Detection and Visibility

• Continuous discovery scans enabled faster identification of server misconfigurations and vulnerabilities compared to competitor scans.
• A centralized asset inventory helped track both active and decommissioned digital assets.

2. Faster Remediation with AI-Driven Recommendations

• ZeroFox’s AI-powered remediation guidance allowed its small analyst team to support fix teams without requiring deep mitigation expertise on all technologies.
• Improved Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) and Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR) have accelerated response efforts.

3. Integration with Vulcan

• Findings from ZeroFox will seamlessly integrate into the Vulcan platform, providing a unified view of vulnerabilities across all brands.
• This integration enables better prioritization, contextualization, and correlation of risk data.

4. Brand Protection and Security

• Comprehensive Digital Risk Protection (DRP) capabilities address threats such as counterfeit products, social media impersonation, and credential leaks, thereby strengthening the overall security posture.

The Results

The journey to secure its external attack surface is ongoing, but the implementation of the ZeroFox platform has been a significant advancement. With enhanced visibility and streamlined remediation processes, the organization is poised for a more secure future concerning its diverse digital assets.

The reduction in detection and response times has led to considerable operational efficiencies. By promptly addressing critical vulnerabilities, the organization has successfully avoided potential security incidents. The AI-driven system has facilitated more effective resource allocation, ensuring that skilled security personnel can focus on high-priority vulnerabilities rather than less critical issues.

Key milestones include:

• Improved detection and response efficiency for external vulnerabilities.
• Consolidated visibility of external assets and risks across the organization.
• Enhanced operational workflows for its small but dedicated cybersecurity team.

The successful integration of ZeroFox into the security infrastructure marked a significant milestone in the organization’s ongoing efforts to improve cybersecurity. In addition to financial benefits, the strengthened security posture enhanced the organization’s brand reputation and boosted stakeholder confidence. By adopting a proactive approach to managing cyber risks, the company reinforced its image as a responsible and trustworthy entity. This positive perception not only benefits the organization but also attracts customers, investors, and talent. Furthermore, improved security reduces regulatory and legal risks, which can be both costly and damaging. While financial return on investment (ROI) is important, the implementation of ZeroFox had a broader positive impact on the overall business.

Advice to Similar Organizations

This digital security journey provides several key recommendations for similar organizations.

First, it is crucial to conduct a thorough assessment of your organization’s external attack surface. This involves identifying all internet-facing assets, including servers, applications, and cloud resources. Creating a comprehensive inventory is essential for gaining visibility into your entire digital footprint. This assessment often reveals unexpected assets or outdated systems that may present significant security risks.

After completing the assessment, prioritize vulnerabilities based on their severity and the likelihood of exploitation. This requires a well-defined vulnerability management process, which may involve leveraging automated tools and threat intelligence feeds to effectively prioritize mitigation efforts.

Additionally, the organization offers the following advice:

• Consolidate Tools: Streamline overlapping external security solutions into a unified platform to enhance digital protection.
• Focus on Process: Effective vulnerability management necessitates both technology and clearly defined workflows.
• Operationalize Data: Utilize automation and AI-driven recommendations to increase efficiency with large volumes of data and improve remediation response by stakeholders.

Conclusion

By partnering with ZeroFox, the luxury goods organization has taken a proactive stance in securing its digital attack surface while enhancing operational efficiency. As the organization continues to evolve its cyber threat intelligence and vulnerability management processes, ZeroFox remains a trusted partner in their journey to strengthen cybersecurity across its iconic brand portfolio.

About ZeroFox EASM

ZeroFox, an enterprise software-as-a-service leader in external cybersecurity, has redefined security outside the corporate perimeter on the internet, where businesses operate, and threat actors thrive. The ZeroFox platform combines advanced AI analytics, digital risk, and privacy protection, full-spectrum threat intelligence, and a robust portfolio of breach, incident, and takedown response capabilities to expose and disrupt phishing and fraud campaigns, botnet exposures, credential theft, impersonations, data breaches, and physical threats that target your brands, domains, people, and assets. Join thousands of customers, including some of the largest public sector organizations as well as finance, media, technology, and retail companies to stay ahead of adversaries and address the entire lifecycle of external cyber risks.