CUSTOMER CASE STUDY INSPIRE EDUCATION GROUP

Sophos MTR a “reassuring
approach to threatprotection” for Inspire
Education Group
Inspire Education Group is a provider of further and higher
education with two main campuses in Cambridgeshire andLincolnshire. The Group also delivers specialist commercial
training for employers locally, regionally and nationally.

CUSTOMER-AT-A-GLANCE
Inspire Education Group
Industry
Education

Sophos Customer
Since 2009
Number of Users
4,000 devices
150 servers
13,000 users

Sophos Solutions
Sophos Central
Intercept X Server
Sophos XG Firewalls
Sophos Managed Threat
Response (MTR)CUSTOMER CASE STUDY INSPIRE EDUCATION GROUP‘Sophos never dictated to us – they justguided us through the process, step bystep giving us a good understanding ofeach step. We were always listened to.’Stuart Axford, Group IT Infrastructure Manager, Inspire Education Group

Inspire Education Group extended its IT security toinclude Sophos Managed Threat Response (MTR)
in 2021. Ransomware threats were high on theGroup’s radar following a recent attack on a nearby
college so a solution was needed fast. Read on tofind out why the Group chose MTR and how thestory unfolded.

Business challenges
Stuart Axford, Group IT Infrastructure Manager atInspire Education Group admits he’s a big Sophos
fan. And when Stuart started working at the Groupin 2016 he was pleased to see that Sophos wasalready in place in Stamford College. A competing
solution was being used at Peterborough. Tenmonths ago when the Group was formed, Stamford
moved from on-premise Sophos Endpoint

Protection to cloud-based Sophos Central alongside
XG Firewalls and Intercept X for Server, which
Stuart says he was very happy with because “it justgot on with the job of protecting the Group in thebackground”.
Yet as time passed and attacks on colleges
became more prevalent, paired with a devastating
ransomware attack on a nearby college, Stuart
decided it was time to fortify the Group’s resilienceagainst ransomware threats. He had become
increasingly nervous about the shifting security
landscape in the education sector and decided
action was needed. He turned to Sophos partner
Phoenix for advice, who suggested a number ofoptions – and Sophos MTR was one of them. Stuart
assessed the options Phoenix had put forward
but Sophos MTR was the clear winner in terms offunctionality and pricing over a three year period.

The technical solution
When the time came to move both colleges in theGroup to MTR, disaster struck. At the Peterboroughsite, when the team removed the incumbent
solution, ransomware attackers managed tocompromise the college before MTR was installed.
The attackers failed to access Stamford systems
because MTR was already in place there, as wellas the other Sophos solutions the college hadinstalled. Nothing was lost or damaged at Stamford
yet in Peterborough, 80 servers were compromised.
Thankfully, recent backups meant that the college
did not lose everything.
Stuart reached out to Sophos to help the collegeand get the team back on their feet. “They werevery calming during our crisis,” says Stuart.
They reassured us and left us with no questions
unanswered. The process was amazing.” Sophos

CUSTOMER CASE STUDY INSPIRE EDUCATION GROUP‘Sophos MTR and the Sophos teamact as our goalkeepers, sitting behind
us with their skill sets and giving us
reassurance that they have our back.’
Stuart Axford, Group IT Infrastructure Manager, Inspire Education Grouprolled MTR out much faster than first anticipated inorder to prevent any further attacks on the Group.
“We were reassured that someone had our back,”says Stuart.
Sophos MTR provides 24/7 threat hunting,detection, and response capabilities delivered by
an expert team as a fully-managed service. With
Sophos MTR, Stuart and his team are now armed
with a 24/7 team of threat hunters and response
experts who will:Ì Proactively seek out and validate
potential threats and incidents
Ì Use all available information to determine
the scope and severity of threatsÌ Apply the appropriate businesscontext for valid threatsÌ Initiate actions to remotely disrupt,contain, and neutralize threatsÌ A methodical, reassuring, professional anddirect approach to threat protection

Ì Provide actional advice for addressing
the root cause of recurring incidents

Ì Phase by phase guidance with clear
understanding of each phase

Business benefits

Ì Upskilling staff and working closely with Sophos
rather than just implementing the productOnboarding MTR was very easy according to Stuart,and an assessment with a checklist was provided bySophos, with recommendations for future changes
to the security stack. Stuart and the team now get
automated alerts if there’s ever a problem so they arealways aware of any issues or threats which are thenswiftly dealt with by the Sophos team. Stuart’s teamcan be as involved as they wish and can work closelywith Sophos to understand and neutralize threats,
dealing with any attacks together while learning
more about the threat landscape. A summary of thebenefits to the Group include:Ì The peace of mind, ease of use, cost and timesavings that customers expect from Sophos
Ì Native language speakers and no language
barriers if the team call for support
Ì A convenient 24/7 service that works
alongside the Group’s IT teamÌ Budget met with a three year deal

CUSTOMER CASE STUDY INSPIRE EDUCATION GROUP

Stuart is delighted with Sophos MTR and feels that
his requirements for increased security, including
ransomware protection across the Group, havebeen met by this product and the Sophos teamthat sits behind it. He is also very happy with theservice he receives, from the regular conversations
he has with his Account Manager as well as theSales Engineers that installed the product. Stuart
is looking forward to a continued relationship withSophos in the future and is happy to talk to othercolleges about his positive experiences with SophosMTR.

‘We got pricing and product informationfrom other companies offering a similar
MTR service but they just didn’t feelright, although the functionality wassimilar. We are now very grateful that wechose Sophos for time and cost savings,
ease of use, and peace of mind.’
Stuart Axford, Group IT Infrastructure Manager, Inspire Education GroupTo find out more about
Sophos solutions, call(0)8447 671131 or email
sales@sophos.com

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