Versetal’s solution at a glance:
- Provided a Security Risk Assessment which turned into a long-lasting cybersecurity partnership
- Saves Alynlam more than $80,000 a year switching from CrowdStrike to SentinelOne
- Provides more automation and less alert fatigue with 24/7 SOC versus different vendors for each product
Introduction
At the beginning of 2021, Alnylam only had two security team members in their entire Information Technology department. Being a vastly distributed organization with offices in more than 20 countries, with a focus on sensitive research and development for rare diseases, Sanju Misra, the new Vice President of Information Security, recognized the need for an investment in data protection and 24/7 security. At the time, Alnylam was heavily leveraging third-party providers along with its two internal employees.
“We needed one partner to do all of it because frankly, our previous approaches were inefficient and we did not have the bandwidth internally to handle what Alnylam’s mission required of us,” said Sanju Misra, Vice President, Information Security.
This is where our Versetal approach came into play.
The Story of Alnylam
Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has led the translation of RNA interference (RNAi) into a whole new class of innovative medicines with the potential to transform the lives of people afflicted with rare and prevalent diseases. Alnylam’s RNAi-based medicines focuses on four therapeutic areas: genetic medicines, cardio-metabolic diseases, infectious diseases, and central nervous system (CNS) & ocular diseases.
Since its founding 20 years ago, Alnylam has led the RNAi Revolution and continues to deliver on a bold vision to turn scientific possibility into reality. Based on Nobel Prize-winning science, RNAi therapeutics represent a powerful, clinically validated approach yielding transformative medicines.
“We simply needed more automation and less alert fatigue – and we needed to find a partner that we could trust to do this as we had larger projects at stake to focus our time toward.”
Sanju Misra
Vice President Information Security
The “War on Tools”
Prior to using Versetal, Alnylam leveraged third party providers along with two internal employees that were focused on information security. They didn’t have the internal bandwidth at the time and were connected with Versetal to do a Security Test to see where their gaps were. “We had a different vendor for nearly every area,” Misra said. “Nothing ‘talked’ to each other, which was frustrating as it felt like we were constantly chasing down answers from all of our third party providers and not getting valuable data and insights. We simply had a ‘war on tools’ due to the fact that we had so many vendors, tons of alerts, and nothing working together in unison.” Alnylam knew that they needed to have one partner accountable for all of it so they could focus on transformational projects, challenging legacy databases, and expanding their team.“Versetal was different from other vendors because it never felt like we [Alnylam] were hiring a service provider, it felt like we were hiring additional Alnylam team members as the Versetal crew truly had – and still has – our best interests in mind.”
Sanju Misra
Vice President Information Security
Why Alnylam Chose Versetal
“Versetal was different from other vendors because it never felt like we [Alnylam] were hiring a service provider, it felt like we were hiring additional Alnylam team members as the Versetal crew truly had – and still has – our best interests in mind. They recognize there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution and they were able to prove they could be adaptable & flexible right off the bat, looking at our needs FIRST— and that was the deciding factor,” said Misra.
How Versetal Responded
Misra and the team leverage Versetal as a sounding board as they appreciate how Versetal can provide guidance on business initiatives. Darren Murphy, Chief Technology Officer, says “We go above and beyond to educate our customers in mitigating risk. In addition to an advanced Pen Test, we held a mind of a hacker training for Alnylam’s global IT staff. Our first step as a partner was procuring the best technology tools and helping create a more robust Incident Response Plan.”
Versetal then created a Ransomware Playbook to document critical applications for Alnylam, as well as being present during Tabletop exercises.
“Security doesn’t sleep and Versetal is 24/7. We love our customers and treat them like family,” Murphy stated.
“It felt like Versetal was on the journey to figure out what we needed as we progressed, because frankly, we weren’t even sure what we needed right away. And to this day, I am still grateful to have Versetal as a sounding board and partner.”
Sanju Misra
Vice President Information Security
