Download PDF

Case Studies > Coats Optimizes Its Extensive Supply Chain Security, Protecting Customers and Vendors

Coats Optimizes Its Extensive Supply Chain Security, Protecting Customers and Vendors

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Machine Learning

Applicable Industries

Telecommunications
Transportation

Applicable Functions

Business Operation
Quality Assurance

Services

System Integration
Cybersecurity Services

The Challenge

During 2020, Coats faced an increase in advanced email attacks year over year. Coats had invested in Microsoft Defender for Office 365 which was effective in blocking common email attacks by leveraging rules and policies, and threat intelligence. However, for advanced attacks they needed a solution like Abnormal Security that leverages a behavioral approach to detect and block never-seen-before attacks with high efficacy. Coats was also finding messages in quarantine that didn’t belong there, and they didn’t understand why they were quarantined. The overall result was more risky messages getting through, more good messages stuck in quarantine, and more time assessing why their controls weren’t stopping potentially illegitimate messages and trying to fine-tune their safelist. The result was time and attention diverted from innovation and other security priorities.

About The Customer

Coats is the global leader in industrial thread manufacturing, with more than 17,000 employees producing enough fiber daily to stretch to the sun and back four times. The 250-year-old company has stayed at the forefront of textile innovation as demand evolved from sewing thread to healthcare PPE and carbon-composite fibers for aerospace manufacturing. Coats leverages new technologies and market expertise to develop products for customers in the apparel, luggage, footwear, home and recreation, personal protection, transportation, telecommunications, and energy industries.

The Solution

Coats chose Microsoft 365 to reduce their on-premises overhead, increase email system uptime, and meet executives’ needs for familiar email tools. Microsoft Defender and Exchange Online Protection handle the basic blocking and tackling on email security to filter out messages that are known to be bad. However, the challenge was stopping email attacks designed without malicious links or attachments to evade basic safeguards. Coats needed a powerful, modern, behavior-based solution that was designed to work seamlessly with Microsoft. Abnormal Security’s Integrated Cloud Email Security (ICES) platform was the right choice. ICES uses ML and AI to evaluate behavior and content. Since turning on ICES, Coats has not experienced a single compromised account. Abnormal’s AI-driven VendorBase identified Coats’ 7,099 vendors and evaluated their messages for potential compromise, based on each vendor’s legitimacy, history of compromise, and history of impersonation attempts at Coats and across all Abnormal customers. The behavioral analysis within VendorBase found 30 vendors at high risk, another 20 at medium risk, and 33 attacks from legitimate vendor and partner accounts.

Operational Impact

With the Abnormal Integrated Cloud Email Security platform, Coats avoided the need for multiple, potentially incompatible, products to enhance their Microsoft email security. ICES is the only email security platform that deploys precise detection against advanced email attacks, streamlines email security architecture, reduces security team overhead, all while maintaining Microsoft 365’s native security features.
ICES also creates a more efficient inbox user experience. The ICES promotions folder separates marketing messages from spam, so it’s less risky for users to check their promotions. If they move a promotion email to their main folder, Abnormal remembers that choice. This has improved productivity for Coats employees.
Remediating email sent by mistake is more efficient, too. Instead of 30 to 90 minutes, Coats' team now remediates them in two minutes from the Abnormal console.

Quantitative Benefit

Abnormal identified 766 attacks that had reached Coats inboxes in the preceding month.
In the first nine months, Abnormal Integrated Cloud Email Security prevented 7,790 attacks, primarily name impersonation phishing attempts, from Coats’ 11,000 mailboxes.
30 hours per week saved on inbox investigations and errant message retrieval.