Strengthening AWS Security Posture and Network Management for Seamless Growth and Efficiency

The Customer, a leading CX outsourcer, sought to enhance the security and efficiency of its multi-cloud environment. With a complex AWS infrastructure spanning multiple regions and business units, they needed to improve its network architecture, strengthen security controls, and streamline traffic inspection. They engaged Caylent, an expert in cloud solutions, to assess their existing infrastructure and implement a robust, scalable, and secure networking solution.

Challenges

The customer faced several challenges:

• Multi-Cloud Complexity: Managing a multi-cloud environment (AWS, GCP, Azure) with multiple AWS accounts and regions created complexity in network management and security.
• Security Concerns: Ensuring comprehensive security across all AWS environments, including ingress/egress traffic inspection and east-west traffic within regions, was critical.
• Hybrid Connectivity: Integrating on-premise data centers with the AWS cloud and ensuring seamless packet mirroring to their Vectra MDR solution required a well-designed hybrid connectivity solution.
• Scalability and Flexibility: The solution needed to be scalable and flexible to accommodate future growth and the addition of new regions or accounts.
• Firewall Selection: The customer was evaluating both Palo Alto firewalls and AWS Network Firewall and needed guidance on the best choice for their environment.

Solution

Caylent provided a comprehensive solution encompassing the following key areas:

Assessment and Design: Caylent started with a thorough review of The customer's existing AWS environment, including its network architecture, security configurations, and WAF setup. They gathered requirements for content filtering, traffic inspection, and integration with the Vectra MDR solution. Based on this assessment, Caylent designed a detailed solution that included:

• An inspection VPC architecture for centralized traffic inspection.
• A recommendation to use AWS Network Firewall
• A Transit Gateway implementation to connect multiple regions and VPCs.
• Best practices for deploying sensors on the AWS cloud to allow packet mirroring traffic to be ingested into the Vectra virtual sensor.

Implementation and Testing: Caylent's team implemented the designed solution in a phased approach, starting with development and testing environments before deploying to production. This included:

• Deploying inspection VPCs in each region.
• Configuring AWS Network Firewall 
• Establishing Transit Gateway connectivity across all regions.
• Assisting The customer in testing and validating the implemented solutions.

Knowledge Transfer and Documentation: Throughout the project, Caylent engineers worked closely with the The customer team to transfer knowledge on the operation of the infrastructure and the usage of automation tools. They also provided comprehensive documentation of the implemented solutions.

Key Components

The solution leveraged the following key AWS components:

• AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF)
• AWS Network Firewall
• AWS Transit Gateway
• AWS Direct Connect
• Vectra MDR solution
• AWS networking, firewall, and security components

Results

The engagement with Caylent enabled The customer to achieve the following results:

• Enhanced Security: Implemented robust security controls, including ingress/egress traffic inspection and east-west traffic inspection within regions, significantly improving the security posture.
• Improved Network Architecture: Centralized network management and simplified connectivity across multiple AWS regions and VPCs with Transit Gateway.
• Streamlined Traffic Inspection: Inspection VPCs enabled centralized traffic inspection, improving visibility and control over network traffic.
• Scalable and Flexible Infrastructure: The implemented solution is scalable and flexible, allowing The customer to easily add new regions and accounts in the future.
• Elimination of Data Center Dependency: The new architecture reduced dependency on the on-premise data center for internet egress and ingress, as well as region-to-region connectivity.
• Informed Decision-Making: Caylent provided the information and expertise to make an informed decision on which firewall to use.

By partnering with Caylent, The customer successfully enhanced its cloud security, optimized its network architecture, and streamlined traffic inspection across its multi-cloud environment. The implemented solution provided a scalable, flexible, and secure foundation for future growth and innovation. This case study exemplifies how Caylent's expertise in cloud solutions can help organizations overcome complex challenges and achieve their business objectives.