Existing virtual browser services have issues in both response and usability

Sompo Himawari Life Insurance aims to break away from a traditional life insurance company and transform itself into a “health support company” that supports the health of its customers. Specifically, we will provide new value “Insurhealth” that combines the original function of insurance (Insurance) with the function of supporting health (Healthcare). We are promoting efforts to eliminate them as much as possible.

Now, the company needs to access many websites for business purposes. At this time, there is a risk of inadvertently visiting dangerous sites, so security measures targeting the web have been introduced for some time, but there were various problems. Mr. Yusuke Yamada of the Next Generation Infrastructure Promotion Group of the Information Systems Department said, "We were using a remote desktop service (virtual browser), but the response was poor and the usability was not good. Also, the cost was quite high. ”, he recalls.

Since the existing service is remote, it took a considerable amount of time to start. In addition, because the method of launching a browser on the Windows server and browsing it was adopted, it was said that the image was different from looking directly at it.
"In fact, we often received inquiries from users about the difference in the display of the server browser and the client browser. Performance was also affected by the server and was not as good as we had hoped." (Mr. Yamada)

Therefore, with the renewal of this service, the company decided to consider whether there is a method that is highly convenient and can reduce costs.

Advantages in terms of operability, cost, and future potential
Decided to adopt Menlo Security

Sompo Himawari Life Insurance began selecting new products at the end of 2018. The candidates were Menlo Security and another product, two web isolation solutions. Therefore, we conducted PoC over two months from January 2019. At the same time, we made a desktop comparison, and as a result of comprehensively judging functions, operations, costs, etc., we decided to adopt Menlo Security in April.

Regarding the process of selection, Mr. Yamada said, "In PoC, the main points of difference were operability, cost, and future prospects. Of these, we compared the browser display for operability, but Menlo Security compared the response. While there were no particular problems, other products had conspicuous delays, the screen layout was broken, and they sometimes stopped working."

In terms of cost, another product is not a full web separation, but a gray part that is neither white nor black, and if you try to do this fully, it will consume a lot of hardware resources. As a result, it was thought that the cost would increase. In terms of future prospects, Menlo Security was also highly evaluated for its quick response to improvement requests and its clear roadmap for product development over a fairly long period of time. In addition to these, Menlo Security has many examples of introduction to large-scale users, and the quality and reliability (with SLA guarantee) also gave them a sense of security.

The implementation of Menlo Security went smoothly, including the infrastructure construction, as it is a SaaS service. There were some sites that did not display properly, but Macnica, Menlo Security, and implementation partner NTT Communications Corporation worked together to resolve the issue. Regarding this point, Shuhei Ikeoka of the Next Infrastructure Promotion Group of the Information Systems Department said, ``Thanks to the three companies' close cooperation and regular support, we were able to quickly resolve any issues specific to the Company. Thanks to this, there were no major problems and the implementation proceeded as planned."

Webからの脅威を確実に排除する環境が実現
ユーザビリティが向上し管理工数も削減

Sompo Himawari Life Insurance completed the deployment of Menlo Security in December 2019. This time, it was introduced to 4,000 clients throughout the company, and as a result, an environment that reliably eliminates threats from the Web has been realized, and user convenience has been greatly improved.

Also, in the past, when a virus was detected on the server at the end of the remote desktop, it was necessary for the administrator to take action, but that is no longer the case. In addition, there were many inquiries from users due to the effects of bugs, but now they are almost gone. As a result, the man-hours on the administrator side have been reduced, and the emotional burden has also decreased.

Another big advantage of Menlo Security is that the speed of improvement is very fast. In this regard, Mr. Yamada says, "If you request that this be fixed, it will be reflected in the next week at the earliest. Menlo Security has been asking us to proactively raise improvement requests, which is very reliable." and highly evaluated.

The company has determined that the introduction of this service has ensured security on the Web. Currently, the policy is to allow users to use the Internet as freely as possible without setting too strict rules for accessing the website.
“In the new normal, if new work styles such as telecommuting are required, I think there will be more access to websites than ever before and more opportunities to use services via the Internet.In that case, MenloSecurity Technology that provides security and safety through web separation will have an important meaning." (Mr. Yamada)

プロキシサーバーとMenlo Securityの統合を検討
業務の効率化につながる新たな提案を期待

Regarding the future, Sompo Himawari Life Insurance Inc. is considering integrating the current two-step configuration of proxy server → Menlo Security with Menlo Security. "We have heard that in the future, we will strengthen the proxy and add options, so we hope to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency by integrating them." (Mr. Ikeoka), who will play a role in this implementation. Regarding Macnica, Mr. Ikeoka said, ``I was grateful that Menlo Security's representative from my home country was invited to Japan and met with me.I was able to directly explain and coordinate with the company, which resulted in satisfactory results.'' Macnica handles many unique products in addition to Menlo Security, so I would like them to consider the Company situation and come up with new proposals that will lead to more efficient operations." Mr. Yamada also expressed his expectations, saying, ``I think it will be helpful if you provide the latest information and the initiatives of other companies in the same industry, such as finance and insurance.''

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