Finding the Right Partner​

Setting up the outsourced SOC had previously been a gruelling project and the thought of taking on another project of this scale was daunting for MAG, especially in terms of the time it would take. The company recognised it needed support and sought advice from peers across the UK aviation sector. Following conversations, Tony Johnson, Head of Cyber Security Operations at MAG, was invited to a conference at a leading UK airport that had undergone a similar transformation and migration. It was here that he learned about the airport’s own journey building a more modern, agile outsourced SOC with Bridewell as its security partner. The peer airport had moved away from a fully outsourced SOC and worked with Bridewell to deploy a new SOC technology stack which is a blend of Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender XDR. Johnson was impressed by how much was done in such a short amount of time, including onboarding new services. “The team spoke highly of Bridewell,” said Johnson. “Bridewell represented themselves very well when we met them there. We had a really productive conversation and could have easily mistaken them for our peers own in-house security team as they had so much knowledge of the business and its infrastructure.”

Getting the Project off the Ground​

The progress that had been made at the peer airport and the strong relationship between the airport operator and Bridewell put Johnson’s fears to rest concerning the scale of the MAG project. Using the model Bridewell had developed with the Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Azure Sentinel stacks, Johnson got to work on the business case for the new SOC.

He engaged Microsoft to develop a pilot SOC solution, funded by Microsoft, however, they too stressed the importance of having the right cyber security partner involved. Johnson already had Bridewell in mind.

“We had the technical capabilities to do this on our own, but we wanted to work with a company that had been there and done that. We knew that Bridewell had the relevant experience in aviation as well as ASSURE accreditation so could avoid the pitfalls and complications which can arise in this sector,” said Johnson.

Because of the previous experience outsourcing their SOC, MAG wanted to change its delivery model from a fully outsourced setup to a hybrid approach that would enable more autonomy over its protection. It wanted to keep some capabilities in-house in order to benefit from the understanding of the business and context the in-house team brings, while leveraging Bridewell’s expertise to design, implement and operate its security infrastructure, as well as train internal teams.

A two-tiered solution was agreed, keeping some security operations in-house while Bridewell ran the company’s 24/7 monitoring facilities. This enabled MAG to benefit from a state-of-the-art security without having to build their own entire security operation.

Once Bridewell understood MAG’s business objectives, an assessment phase took place in which Bridewell performed a gap analysis, followed by a design phase where it looked at the resources already available within MAG and highlighted any additional resource, technology and processes required to make the transition a success. With a significant percentage of MAG’s staff furloughed due to the pandemic, resource was a challenge. However, Bridewell was able to fill any gaps and keep the project running smoothly and, crucially, on-schedule.

A Resounding Success​