When it comes to cybersecurity, Harneys Fiduciary needs the ability to proactively navigate complex regulatory requirements, ensure data integrity during mergers and acquisitions, and maintain business continuity. But with their existing security stack, the company’s skilled analysts were spending most of their time reacting and responding to alerts.

Navigating complex compliance across jurisdictions

As a regulated business, Harneys Fiduciary falls under various cybersecurity frameworks, laws and regulations across each jurisdiction in which they operate. The organization must ensure compliance with local legislation, data protection mandates and cybersecurity guidelines, all while safeguarding their clients' sensitive information.

Maintaining security and operational efficiency

While compliance is critical, security measures must also be proportional, ensuring business continuity without unnecessary friction. "Security should be a business enabler," said Michael Hughes, Head of Security for Harneys Fiduciary. "Our goal is to maintain robust protection without impeding operations, especially with evolving regulations like beneficial ownership disclosure."

Mitigating risks during mergers and acquisitions

The organization’s growth strategy includes ongoing mergers and acquisitions, a process that introduces significant risks. Data must be securely extracted from legacy systems and integrated into new platforms that Harneys Fiduciary controls. With multiple parties involved including third-party service providers, due diligence teams and auditors, the potential for security gaps widens.

Harneys Fiduciary is using the Darktrace ActiveAI Security Platform™, including:

• Darktrace / NETWORK
• Darktrace / EMAIL
• Darktrace / IDENTITY
• Darktrace / ENDPOINT
• Darktrace Cyber AI Analyst
• Darktrace / Attack Surface Management

Hughes said, “Darktrace was the obvious choice.” While aware of competing cybersecurity platforms on the market, in his opinion, “other cybersecurity vendors still have a lot of catching up to do.”

Empowering analysts with automation

A review of existing security measures and a full gap analysis revealed that, while some controls were in place, they were not best-of-breed, and many processes remained manual. Therefore, Hughes prioritized solutions that could optimize security operations with minimal human intervention. “Darktrace is a best-in-class solution that can automate decision-making across our security stack, ensuring real-time protection while freeing analysts to work more proactively,” he said.

A unified platform approach for full visibility

Harneys Fiduciary sought an integrated solution that could deliver comprehensive protection across multiple security layers – including network, email, endpoint and identity security.  “A single-pane-of-glass approach was essential," said Hughes. “With Darktrace, everything would feed into a single UI, allowing us to investigate all security threats, analyze risks and take action—within one integrated platform."

AI-driven security backed by industry-leading innovation

Both Hughes and the company’s leadership had firsthand experience with Darktrace. “It was an easy sell to senior management because they already trusted Darktrace’s performance and reliability,” said Hughes.

Harneys Fiduciary has been leading the industry in AI adoption for cybersecurity, which is why they wanted a security partner with deep AI experience and expertise. “Darktrace continues to be at the forefront of cybersecurity AI,” said Hughes.  The Darktrace AI Research Center based in Cambridge, UK, has conducted AI research since 2013, establishing new thresholds in cybersecurity, with technology innovations backed by over 200+ patents and pending applications.

Within a 3-month period:

• Darktrace Cyber AI Analyst conducted 8,302 autonomous investigations: only 480 were escalated to an analyst; Darktrace autonomously responded to the other 7,822.*
• Darktrace controlled 15 anomalous behaviors indicative of an attack*

Within a 12-day period:

• Darktrace saved the security team 425 investigation hours*
• Cyber AI Analyst averaged 10 minutes to investigate incidents*

Efficiency gains with an integrated security platform

“Aside from risk mitigation, our biggest ROI is in efficiency and resource savings,” said Hughes. The single-pane-of-glass visibility gives analysts a clear chain of events, enabling them to triage alerts, investigate anomalies and act quickly and efficiently instead of spending hours gathering information. "What used to take 90% of our investigation time is now handled automatically, so we can focus on the final 10%, which requires critical thinking."

Scaling cybersecurity without scaling headcount

Six months into deployment, the security team has shifted from reactive security to proactive threat hunting. With Darktrace Cyber AI Analyst handling initial triage and alert prioritization, the security team can focus on higher-value security initiatives. “We have moved from day-to-day monitoring and into continuous improvement—refining our defenses without needing to hire a team of seven or more analysts just to manage alerts," said Hughes.

Stronger attack surface management

Using Darktrace / Attack Surface Management, Harneys Fiduciary has gained visibility into unknown assets, unauthorized domains and vulnerabilities. One of the most valuable capabilities of Attack Surface Management has been its ability to correlate external vulnerabilities with the company’s digital assets in real time. “This alone is a huge time-saver," said Hughes.

Optimizing cloud operations for a more secure future

As Harneys Fiduciary continues to expand their cybersecurity strategy, they are looking at Darktrace / CLOUD, which could provide a more comprehensive view of cloud tenants, subscriptions and interdependencies across the entire infrastructure. “Our goal is to continue to refine and optimize our approach to cyber resilience,” said Hughes. “With Darktrace we have both the technology and the strategic partner we need to make that happen.”  

* Metrics are based on Harneys Fiduciary business data and sourced from their monthly Cyber AI Insights reporting