One of the rooms in Sun International’s Table Bay hotel in Cape Town.
Hospitality and gaming giantย Sun Internationalย has upgraded its security posture and supported its online gaming growth strategy by partnering with South African cyber security specialistsย Nclose.
Client Challenge
Pragasen Pather, Chief Information Officer of Sun International, says before moving its security stack to Nclose, Sun International had been using legacy tools approaching the end of their license and they needed help in managing them.
The legacy environment was not optimised to deliver the required capabilities, including Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and End Point Detection and Response (EDR). The endpoint security solutions were causing compatibility issues with applications and infrastructure running on the organisationโs servers. In addition, cybersecurity resourcing and skills were a growing challenge for the group.
The solution
Marking Ncloseโs first significant engagement with the hospitality and gaming sector, Nclose embarked on a managed security services partnership with Sun International late in 2022.
Pather notes that Nclose was selected as a security partner due to the relationship of trust it built with Sun International and because of the Nclose teamโs focus on rapid response and personal support.
Nclose implemented an MDR platform and service and an End Point Detection and Response (EDR) capability across Sun Internationalโs properties, protecting thousands of workstations and critical gaming systems.
The solutions were deployed across 13 South African sites and one in Nigeria within three months, with two Nclose teams, deployed to support Sun International in the successful roll-out.
EDR was deployed to around 4,500 business endpoints and gaming assets, and MDR to more than 6500 endpoints.
Pather says Sun International has gained improved visibility across the environment, with better insights into critical threats and a 24/7 monitoring system similar to a Security Operations Centre (SOC).
โOur security posture has been strengthened through a combination of having experts to support us, plus the advanced technology itself,โ he says.
Business outcomes
The new MDR and EDR solutions improved Sun International’s ability to detect and respond to cyber-attacks, enabling faster remediation and avoiding costly downtime.
The Nclose managed service gives Sun International instant access to security experts 24/7, eliminating the skilled security resources challenge. Pather says: โOne of the drivers for our managed service model with Nclose is I donโt have to constantly replace resources internally. We have streamlined our internal security team, with senior security managers overseeing key issues such as policies and governance instead of day-to-day operations.โ
Sun Internationalโs improved security stack also supports its strategy to grow more aggressively in the online gaming market.
Due to Ncloseโs approach to partnering with clients to proactively improve their security, Nclose is now working with Sun International to build the organisationโs security partner ecosystem. Sun International already sees positive results.
โSecurity is always evolving, so we have regular meetings with Nclose to continually improve our security posture. We are also growing our security ecosystem and partners, collaborating with Nclose and others to mitigate cyber threats.โ
Pather notes: โIn cyber security, many advanced technologies are similar, so technology is not the differentiator. The relationship and trust factor is the most important in determining whom you partner with. With Nclose, we have a long-term strategic relationship versus just getting technology deployed.โ
About Sun International
Sun International develops, invests in and manages a diverse portfolio of properties in the gaming and hospitality industry. First incorporated in 1967, Sun International is the leading casino operator in the southern hemisphere, with internationally acclaimed tourism resorts, luxury hotels and urban entertainment operations, and a market capitalisation of approximately R8,74 billion.