Driving Transformation: Q-Park Teams with Cato to Connect and Secure 750 Car Parks 

Baltimore Aircoil Replaces MPLS with Cato, Improving Voice Quality, Enabling Video Conferencing, and Increasing Agility Q-Park Takes Proactive Measures to Protect the Business   It all began with a cyber-attack.   Across the industry, WannaCry encrypted over 300,000 Windows computers and disrupted operations across multiple facilities, causing billions of dollars in damages.  Q-Park, too, was confronted by WannaCry. A parking operator active in hundreds of locations within seven European countries, Q-Park had many assets at each location that could become WannaCry targets, such as parking management systems, CCTV cameras, and payment machines.  The ransomware threat served as a wake-up call. Hans Linssen, Q-Park's Chief Transformation Officer (CTO), knew he needed to transform his network and upgrade the company’s cybersecurity posture. Most importantly, he needed a new kind of partnership with his security vendor, one that he found with Cato.  “Cato can think with us and for us," said Linssen. "Together with Cato we defined a phased approach to protect us. By installing the Sockets and having the security logging we are able to isolate our facilities. So, without having full network segmentation and visibility of our assets in place, we were already able to substantially reduce our risk. That's how we see a partnership and that's also how we are approaching it together with Cato.”   “Cato can think with us and for us....That's how we see a partnership and that's also how we are approaching it together with Cato."  Q-Park’s Digital Transformation from Traditional Ticket Systems to Parking-as-a-Smart Service (PaSS)  When you talk about parking, "innovative technology" seldom comes to mind. But then again, Q-Park isn't your typical parking operator. The company runs more than 3,600 parking facilities comprising over 706,000 parking spaces in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, the UK, Ireland, and Denmark.  Q-Park was also one of the first to adopt IoT and cloud migration to redefine the parking experience with its revolutionary Parking-as-a-Smart Service (PaSS) concept.  With PaSS, motorists register their vehicle’s number plates via a mobile application in one country and then seamlessly use any of Q-Park's 750 car parks (Q-Park 3,600 parking facilities also include on-street parking and other types of facilities.) across Europe without the hassle of getting a ticket or paying on-site. Instead, customers drive into the parking facility and pay automatically or via a bill once a month. PaSS also allows motorists to pre-book their parking space, where the back-office calculation engine determines the final parking transaction tariff.  For that to happen, the car parks had to be interconnected with the company's PaSS application servers running in Azure. Previously, they had relied on a flat MPLS for the job, backhauling traffic to a data center and then onto the cloud. But that left the element of security out of the equation.   The approach was considered best practice at the time, but without security embedded within the network, WannaCry could easily spread from one car park to the entire network. “You could go to Nice, for instance, plugin, and attack one of the 40,000 assets — such as CCTV cameras and terminals — in a different car park and infect everything we had,” said Linssen.  Smooth Traffic Flow: Q-Park Benefits from Cato SASE Cloud Platform’s Traffic Segmentation  The team ran an RFP for a new WAN solution at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The RFP had three pillars: state-of-the-art service, security segmentation, and affordable cost. As part of the state-of-the-art pillar, Linssen also sought robust network monitoring.   He soon narrowed 18 potential providers to three and ultimately chose Cato. "We wanted more than a technology provider. We wanted a technology partner, and that’s what we found in Cato Networks and our technology provider,” said Linssen.   Now, the Q-Park team could ingest security logs from Cato into the company’s SIEM platform, providing comprehensive monitoring of their network. “In the past, only a limited number of car parks could be monitored through a virus scanner. With Cato, we can ingest all relevant security logs into our SIEM and monitor the complete network,” said Linssen.  Cato fully enforces granular corporate access policies on all applications on-premises and in the cloud, protecting users against threats and preventing sensitive data loss. The granularity made the difference for Linssen. He started by rolling out Cato Sockets, Cato’s edge SD-WAN devices, at his parking facilities.   “By installing Cato at each location and having the security logging, we were able to isolate our facilities,” says Linssen. "So, even without having full network segmentation and visibility of our assets in place, we could already reduce our risk substantially.”  With Cato, Q-Park defines different access levels for various user groups within the organization while restricting traffic types that pose potential security threats. This allowed the company to limit access to the PaSS application servers hosted in Microsoft Azure, which were directly connected through Cato.  "The full creation of the network segments provides us with security we haven't had in place before,” said Linssen. With granular access control, Linssen and his team could define and implement firewall rules based on user roles within the organization, enforcing a Zero Trust approach to enhance overall security measures. Should malicious traffic be detected, the Q-Park team can immediately block the Cato Socket and isolate the site, preventing malware from moving laterally across the network.   ROI has been hard to quantify, said Linssen, but the improvements in security posture more than justify the Cato deployment. “For shareholders, the security improvements are very relevant. Being the victim of an attack poses enormous risks to one’s brand. With Cato, we know that we’re taking the best possible approach to mitigating that risk,” said Linssen   "Cato provides us the possibilities and that's why everybody supports the investments because everybody is convinced."  The shift to Cato has even impressed Q-Park’s investors. "Cato provides us the possibilities, and that's why everybody supports the investments because everybody is convinced," said Linssen. 

CIAL Dun & Bradstreet Improves Networking and Security in Latin American with Cato Q-Park Takes Proactive Measures to Protect the Business   It all began with a cyber-attack.   Across the industry, WannaCry encrypted over 300,000 Windows computers and disrupted operations across multiple facilities, causing billions of dollars in damages.  Q-Park, too, was confronted by WannaCry. A parking operator active in hundreds of locations within seven European countries, Q-Park had many assets at each location that could become WannaCry targets, such as parking management systems, CCTV cameras, and payment machines.  The ransomware threat served as a wake-up call. Hans Linssen, Q-Park's Chief Transformation Officer (CTO), knew he needed to transform his network and upgrade the company’s cybersecurity posture. Most importantly, he needed a new kind of partnership with his security vendor, one that he found with Cato.  “Cato can think with us and for us," said Linssen. "Together with Cato we defined a phased approach to protect us. By installing the Sockets and having the security logging we are able to isolate our facilities. So, without having full network segmentation and visibility of our assets in place, we were already able to substantially reduce our risk. That's how we see a partnership and that's also how we are approaching it together with Cato.”   “Cato can think with us and for us....That's how we see a partnership and that's also how we are approaching it together with Cato."  Q-Park’s Digital Transformation from Traditional Ticket Systems to Parking-as-a-Smart Service (PaSS)  When you talk about parking, "innovative technology" seldom comes to mind. But then again, Q-Park isn't your typical parking operator. The company runs more than 3,600 parking facilities comprising over 706,000 parking spaces in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, the UK, Ireland, and Denmark.  Q-Park was also one of the first to adopt IoT and cloud migration to redefine the parking experience with its revolutionary Parking-as-a-Smart Service (PaSS) concept.  With PaSS, motorists register their vehicle’s number plates via a mobile application in one country and then seamlessly use any of Q-Park's 750 car parks (Q-Park 3,600 parking facilities also include on-street parking and other types of facilities.) across Europe without the hassle of getting a ticket or paying on-site. Instead, customers drive into the parking facility and pay automatically or via a bill once a month. PaSS also allows motorists to pre-book their parking space, where the back-office calculation engine determines the final parking transaction tariff.  For that to happen, the car parks had to be interconnected with the company's PaSS application servers running in Azure. Previously, they had relied on a flat MPLS for the job, backhauling traffic to a data center and then onto the cloud. But that left the element of security out of the equation.   The approach was considered best practice at the time, but without security embedded within the network, WannaCry could easily spread from one car park to the entire network. “You could go to Nice, for instance, plugin, and attack one of the 40,000 assets — such as CCTV cameras and terminals — in a different car park and infect everything we had,” said Linssen.  Smooth Traffic Flow: Q-Park Benefits from Cato SASE Cloud Platform’s Traffic Segmentation  The team ran an RFP for a new WAN solution at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The RFP had three pillars: state-of-the-art service, security segmentation, and affordable cost. As part of the state-of-the-art pillar, Linssen also sought robust network monitoring.   He soon narrowed 18 potential providers to three and ultimately chose Cato. "We wanted more than a technology provider. We wanted a technology partner, and that’s what we found in Cato Networks and our technology provider,” said Linssen.   Now, the Q-Park team could ingest security logs from Cato into the company’s SIEM platform, providing comprehensive monitoring of their network. “In the past, only a limited number of car parks could be monitored through a virus scanner. With Cato, we can ingest all relevant security logs into our SIEM and monitor the complete network,” said Linssen.  Cato fully enforces granular corporate access policies on all applications on-premises and in the cloud, protecting users against threats and preventing sensitive data loss. The granularity made the difference for Linssen. He started by rolling out Cato Sockets, Cato’s edge SD-WAN devices, at his parking facilities.   “By installing Cato at each location and having the security logging, we were able to isolate our facilities,” says Linssen. "So, even without having full network segmentation and visibility of our assets in place, we could already reduce our risk substantially.”  With Cato, Q-Park defines different access levels for various user groups within the organization while restricting traffic types that pose potential security threats. This allowed the company to limit access to the PaSS application servers hosted in Microsoft Azure, which were directly connected through Cato.  "The full creation of the network segments provides us with security we haven't had in place before,” said Linssen. With granular access control, Linssen and his team could define and implement firewall rules based on user roles within the organization, enforcing a Zero Trust approach to enhance overall security measures. Should malicious traffic be detected, the Q-Park team can immediately block the Cato Socket and isolate the site, preventing malware from moving laterally across the network.   ROI has been hard to quantify, said Linssen, but the improvements in security posture more than justify the Cato deployment. “For shareholders, the security improvements are very relevant. Being the victim of an attack poses enormous risks to one’s brand. With Cato, we know that we’re taking the best possible approach to mitigating that risk,” said Linssen   "Cato provides us the possibilities and that's why everybody supports the investments because everybody is convinced."  The shift to Cato has even impressed Q-Park’s investors. "Cato provides us the possibilities, and that's why everybody supports the investments because everybody is convinced," said Linssen. 

Diamond Braces Uses Cato to Boost WAN Security, Performance, and Reliability Q-Park Takes Proactive Measures to Protect the Business   It all began with a cyber-attack.   Across the industry, WannaCry encrypted over 300,000 Windows computers and disrupted operations across multiple facilities, causing billions of dollars in damages.  Q-Park, too, was confronted by WannaCry. A parking operator active in hundreds of locations within seven European countries, Q-Park had many assets at each location that could become WannaCry targets, such as parking management systems, CCTV cameras, and payment machines.  The ransomware threat served as a wake-up call. Hans Linssen, Q-Park's Chief Transformation Officer (CTO), knew he needed to transform his network and upgrade the company’s cybersecurity posture. Most importantly, he needed a new kind of partnership with his security vendor, one that he found with Cato.  “Cato can think with us and for us," said Linssen. "Together with Cato we defined a phased approach to protect us. By installing the Sockets and having the security logging we are able to isolate our facilities. So, without having full network segmentation and visibility of our assets in place, we were already able to substantially reduce our risk. That's how we see a partnership and that's also how we are approaching it together with Cato.”   “Cato can think with us and for us....That's how we see a partnership and that's also how we are approaching it together with Cato."  Q-Park’s Digital Transformation from Traditional Ticket Systems to Parking-as-a-Smart Service (PaSS)  When you talk about parking, "innovative technology" seldom comes to mind. But then again, Q-Park isn't your typical parking operator. The company runs more than 3,600 parking facilities comprising over 706,000 parking spaces in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, the UK, Ireland, and Denmark.  Q-Park was also one of the first to adopt IoT and cloud migration to redefine the parking experience with its revolutionary Parking-as-a-Smart Service (PaSS) concept.  With PaSS, motorists register their vehicle’s number plates via a mobile application in one country and then seamlessly use any of Q-Park's 750 car parks (Q-Park 3,600 parking facilities also include on-street parking and other types of facilities.) across Europe without the hassle of getting a ticket or paying on-site. Instead, customers drive into the parking facility and pay automatically or via a bill once a month. PaSS also allows motorists to pre-book their parking space, where the back-office calculation engine determines the final parking transaction tariff.  For that to happen, the car parks had to be interconnected with the company's PaSS application servers running in Azure. Previously, they had relied on a flat MPLS for the job, backhauling traffic to a data center and then onto the cloud. But that left the element of security out of the equation.   The approach was considered best practice at the time, but without security embedded within the network, WannaCry could easily spread from one car park to the entire network. “You could go to Nice, for instance, plugin, and attack one of the 40,000 assets — such as CCTV cameras and terminals — in a different car park and infect everything we had,” said Linssen.  Smooth Traffic Flow: Q-Park Benefits from Cato SASE Cloud Platform’s Traffic Segmentation  The team ran an RFP for a new WAN solution at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The RFP had three pillars: state-of-the-art service, security segmentation, and affordable cost. As part of the state-of-the-art pillar, Linssen also sought robust network monitoring.   He soon narrowed 18 potential providers to three and ultimately chose Cato. "We wanted more than a technology provider. We wanted a technology partner, and that’s what we found in Cato Networks and our technology provider,” said Linssen.   Now, the Q-Park team could ingest security logs from Cato into the company’s SIEM platform, providing comprehensive monitoring of their network. “In the past, only a limited number of car parks could be monitored through a virus scanner. With Cato, we can ingest all relevant security logs into our SIEM and monitor the complete network,” said Linssen.  Cato fully enforces granular corporate access policies on all applications on-premises and in the cloud, protecting users against threats and preventing sensitive data loss. The granularity made the difference for Linssen. He started by rolling out Cato Sockets, Cato’s edge SD-WAN devices, at his parking facilities.   “By installing Cato at each location and having the security logging, we were able to isolate our facilities,” says Linssen. "So, even without having full network segmentation and visibility of our assets in place, we could already reduce our risk substantially.”  With Cato, Q-Park defines different access levels for various user groups within the organization while restricting traffic types that pose potential security threats. This allowed the company to limit access to the PaSS application servers hosted in Microsoft Azure, which were directly connected through Cato.  "The full creation of the network segments provides us with security we haven't had in place before,” said Linssen. With granular access control, Linssen and his team could define and implement firewall rules based on user roles within the organization, enforcing a Zero Trust approach to enhance overall security measures. Should malicious traffic be detected, the Q-Park team can immediately block the Cato Socket and isolate the site, preventing malware from moving laterally across the network.   ROI has been hard to quantify, said Linssen, but the improvements in security posture more than justify the Cato deployment. “For shareholders, the security improvements are very relevant. Being the victim of an attack poses enormous risks to one’s brand. With Cato, we know that we’re taking the best possible approach to mitigating that risk,” said Linssen   "Cato provides us the possibilities and that's why everybody supports the investments because everybody is convinced."  The shift to Cato has even impressed Q-Park’s investors. "Cato provides us the possibilities, and that's why everybody supports the investments because everybody is convinced," said Linssen.