As one of the UK’s leading engineering firms, providing services to clients globally, Addison Group prioritizes the protection of clients’ data, drawings, and designs.  

The security team is responsible for ensuring that all IT in the business meets the specification that its blue-chip clients require. “We take great pride in ensuring that our clients’ data and information is kept safe and secure by the robust IT systems we have in place,” said Tyler Schofield, Head of IT at Addison.

From a business development perspective, prioritizing cybersecurity has helped the company maintain its current relationships and develop new ones. “Darktrace shows our customers we are taking cybersecurity extremely seriously. It communicates that whilst we are on a physically secure site, we are also digitally robust,” said Cyril Clark, Finance Director at Addison.

Reaching for cyber resilience also complements Addisons’ drive to embed sustainability into the daily business. This cloud-based digital process achieves a higher level of security that is upheld throughout the business at every level.

Addison continually strengthen the processes around its IT systems in line with the fast-moving technology scene. Having previously worked with an external SOC, it was looking to implement a new cybersecurity tool that was designed to meet the demands of the rapidly changing threat landscape.

“In this ever-evolving world of AI and machine learning, we have no option. We need to make sure that we are using a tool that can fight fire with fire,” Schofield said. “It would be limiting using firewalls and/or a human-manned SOC because artificial intelligence and machine learning are able to work so much faster and efficiently.”

Following a hugely successful trial, Addison adopted Darktrace for network, email, and SaaS. Schofield found the response functionality especially valuable. “It could take 30 seconds to log into a portal to isolate an endpoint, and that’s only if the notification is seen as soon as it comes through,” he commented. “The autonomous side of Darktrace knocks everything else out of the park. AI takes away 90% of the overhead in terms of time spent in the tool, alongside the stress of missing an alert. Bringing multiple coverage areas together has advantages across the business. IT personnel can log into a single portal to manage each tool, alongside the added benefits of shared intelligence between each product. The added AI functionality between coverage areas provides wider context, allowing for greater accuracy in threat detection. The more Darktrace can learn, the better it gets.”

The IT team puts Addison’s success in cybersecurity down to a fantastic working relationship between the CEO Marcus Addison and the IT team. “Having a CEO who is fully invested in the importance of cybersecurity is paramount,” said Clark. “Marcus works closely alongside IT to ensure we have the best systems possible and that the funding is there for us to be able to meet those high requirements.”

This close collaboration between the IT team and board-level directors ensures that continual improvement and focus on cyber infrastructure and processes is an ongoing effort. This level of engagement helps the business align on the priority of data security, with an understanding that advanced tools are needed to counter advanced threats. Cyber Essentials Plus certification combined with Darktrace’s transparent incident investigations and reporting make it clear to the budget holders that there is continued return on investment.

“AI has taken the world by storm and we are glad that we adopted Darktrace when we did,” said Clark. “Darktrace AI is one-of-a-kind, and it made complete sense to go for something that was more advanced in its approach than every other product we had seen, as we venture forward into the ever-evolving cyber world as securely as we possibly can.”