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Area 1 Security: Leveraging Google Cloud Platform to Preempt Phishing Attacks
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Big Data Analytics
- Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
Applicable Industries
- Cement
- National Security & Defense
Applicable Functions
- Logistics & Transportation
- Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases
- Construction Management
- Tamper Detection
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
- Data Science Services
The Challenge
Area 1 Security, a leading anti-phishing solution provider, was faced with the challenge of analyzing massive streams of information to identify and preempt targeted phishing attacks. The company needed to process over 3 billion events every day and manage a data warehouse of approximately 3 petabytes, including a quarter of a trillion attack metadata records. The company's service required the ability to analyze this vast amount of information using sensors across the internet, a high-speed web crawler that spiders up to six billion URLs every month, and a distributed sensor network that gathers billions of network events in a day. The challenge was to find a scalable, high-performance platform with sophisticated data analytics tools that could handle this massive data load and help identify impending attacks.
About The Customer
Area 1 Security is a leading provider of comprehensive anti-phishing solutions. The company identifies threat campaigns, attacker infrastructure, and delivery mechanisms to stop targeted phishing attacks during the earliest stages of an attack cycle. Backed by top-tier investors, Area 1 Security is led by security and data analytics experts from NSA, USCYBERCOM, Cisco/IronPort, and FireEye. The company works with some of the most sophisticated organizations in the world, including Fortune 500 banks, insurance companies, and healthcare providers, to preempt targeted phishing attacks and help change outcomes. The company is based in the United States and operates in the technology industry.
The Solution
Area 1 Security turned to Google Cloud Platform for its scalability, performance, and sophisticated data analytics tools. The company's data is stored in Google Cloud Storage, and Google Cloud Dataflow streams data to Google BigQuery and Google Cloud Bigtable. Google BigQuery, which hosts a database of more than 330 billion rows, performs analysis and ad hoc queries that help Area 1 Security quickly identify impending attacks. A curated set of attack and phishing data is sent to Google Cloud Bigtable for fast searches. Area 1 Security then uses its cloud services to take action against phishing attacks before they cause damage to customers. Google Cloud Platform not only helps Area 1 Security find threats but also saves the company money and lets its engineers focus on predictive analytics to find threats instead of running data center infrastructure.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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