A Success Story of How We Seamlessly Migrated CipherTrust Manager to a New Version

Overview 

We worked closely with a telecommunication company and guided them in migrating its CipherTrust Manager from the existing physical environment to a virtual one. Data security and operational efficiency are necessary in the fast-paced world of telecommunications. The telecommunication company has around 10000 employees, generating billions of dollars in revenue every year. The company is acclaimed for its exceptional performance in four key areas which include- cloud operations, enterprise communication solutions, digital media technologies, and telemarketing of brands.

The company has been in the market for over 40 years, continues to regularly deal with millions of sensitive data. The companies in this sector are continually looking for ways and means to enhance their existing infrastructure so as to meet the growing demand. Likewise, our clients realized their CipherTrust housed in a physical environment was no longer sufficient to meet their growing needs. 

Challenges

The requirement of updated and secure security framework was crucial in gaining a competitive edge in this fast-paced market. We provided assistance to our client through a migration of infrastructure to a virtual environment, focusing on enhanced security, scalability, and performance. As we started the migration, we discovered a few critical assets needing attention. 

Our security architect who led the project reported that the system they had set up on a physical premise had limited scalability. Their operations were expanding rapidly, and the complexity of their data environment was also increasing. The outdated version of CipherTrust Manager was unable to keep up, creating a significant risk to their sensitive information’s integrity and security, leading the client in need of better solution to make their data protection and compliance run more effectively. 

The present version of CipherTrust Manager they had in-house was at the end of life and end of vendor support, which left the client without critical updates and security patches. It was also a mandatory policy of our client to have all their software up to date or at least at the N-1 version. This policy added urgency to the upgrade process. 

Besides, the previous version was flawed with vulnerabilities which could further lead to data loss, a nightmare scenario for any organization. The customer was absolutely right to be concerned about the security of their data during the upgrade process and was eager to upgrade the solution to mitigate these risks. 

Nevertheless, the major challenge was migrating the encryption keys, user accounts, and security policies from the old version to the new one without losing the original data. The client had made an initial effort but discovered that it was too difficult to do alone. The process was complex and required careful planning and control to avoid issues, so the client needed professional advice to proceed smoothly and effectively. 

Adding to the complexity was the fact that the existing system was not configured for high availability. It was redundant and unreliable, with multiple points of failure that could lead to significant downtime. The lack of system resilience meant that if one system component malfunctioned, it could trigger multiple failures, undermining the whole data protection framework.  

Solution

Our journey began with in-depth discussions with key stakeholders to have a better idea of their unique requirements and challenges. After understanding their requirements, we conducted a thorough analysis of the current infrastructure pinpointing any weaknesses or performance issues. This was ultimately successful. Using the information we gained; we created a detailed roadmap for an efficient upgrade that included specialized migration tactics and secure architecture for high availability.

We started by setting up the new environment, with encryption keys, user accounts, and security policies seamlessly integrated into existing systems. Following the deployment of the solution, we conducted testing to ensure that the upgraded system met its functional requirements. The security testing was done by validating system configuration and permission, running some automated tests for vulnerability scans, and monitoring system performance and logs. 

To address the growing needs and complexity of the operations, we designed a solution that included a scalable architecture, allowing the client to adapt to future growth easily. This method enabled the new CipherTrust Manager to be flexible in terms of adding features and integrations as the client’s business grew. 

Understanding the critical nature of data security, we focused on protecting sensitive information during the migration process. One of the tasks we took up was designing a comprehensive data migration plan with several backup options as well as an established roll-back mechanism. Also, encryption keys and secure snapshots were created before the update. If something went wrong, our client could easily recover their data. 

We established a clear timeline for the upgrade process to ensure compliance with the client’s internal policies. We also communicated regularly with the key stakeholders, providing updates and gathering feedback to ensure alignment with their policies. Our team also facilitated training sessions for the client’s staff, ensuring they were well-informed of the new system and its capabilities. 

We took lead migration of encryption keys, user accounts, and security policies as our clients found this process to be daunting. Our team developed a detailed migration strategy, including step-by-step procedures for securely and efficiently transferring data. Then, we developed some migration scripts to facilitate the migration process, which in turn, minimized the chance of human errors and made sure all the configurations were accurately replicated into the new system.  

We designed a new architecture incorporating redundancy and failover capabilities to address the existing system’s lack of high availability. To ensure fault tolerance and no interruptions in the operation when one part fails, we installed a multi-node setup making sure that if one of the parts fails, other parts can easily take control and keep operations running, thus reducing downtime. 

We also introduced load balancing to distribute workloads evenly across servers, enhancing performance and reliability. We conducted several meetings with IT, security, and operations teams to gather input and facilitate change management. We explicitly drew attention to the fact that the entire communication process needed to be clear, and the culture of collaboration and transparency needed to be created. Hence, we were able to build confidence among team members and key stakeholders.  

The CipherTrust Encryption (CTE) agents were also migrated as part of the migration procedure. The process of integrating these agents into the new architecture was made efficient by carefully planning their transition. High availability and redundancy were achieved by ensuring that all CTE agents were fully operational in the new architecture. 

Impact

The successful upgrade of the CipherTrust Manager was the most significant achievement for our client. Their operational efficiency and data security environment have been improved by this effort. Scalability was a key consideration while designing the new architecture, allowing the customer to swiftly adjust to future growth and evolving data security requirements.

Our client can now respond easily to changing market demands and technological advancements without the need for significant additional investments. The upgraded system significantly strengthens the client’s overall security posture. They now have the latest solution in their infrastructure, which will get all the upgrades and security patches. 

The upgraded CipherTrust Manager was integrated faultlessly with existing systems, resulting in a seamless user experience. Our client does not have to worry about certain components not working with their current system and can focus on essential business operations. With the new architecture incorporating redundancy, downtime has also been minimized. The new system’s improved performance metrics allowed faster data processing and retrieval. 

The comprehensive training sessions provided for the client’s team ensured they were well-informed and could properly leverage the new system. These knowledge transfer sessions worked incredibly well to establish a culture of continuous improvement and proactive data management within the organization.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our client has seen a significant improvement as a result of the CipherTrust Manager’s successful upgrade. We effectively resolved the security issues and improved their team’s daily performance. By approaching this transfer strategically, we were able to reduce the possibility of data loss and guarantee a smooth transition. The benefits of this project go beyond the short-term enhancements because our customer has laid a strong basis for future expansion and flexibility.

Our dedication to continuous assistance and collaboration additionally enables the client to effortlessly navigate the complexities of data security. As we reflect on this journey, it is clear that the collaboration between Encryption Consulting and our client has yielded significant benefits.