3rd Element Consulting is a small South Central Pennsylvania MSP (Managed Service Provider). Their main verticals are municipal government (e.g., law enforcement), legal, cannabis, and other service providers (e.g., HVAC, accounting).
3rd Element worried that MDR (Managed Detection and Response) wasn’t enough to stop an unknown threat in their network.
3rd Element techs spent time installing new software for end users that required elevated privileges.
End-users were frequently self-installing random applications.
IT staff can save time with ThreatLocker Elevation. Techs no longer need to visit customer sites to install new software.
ThreatLocker provides a product that stops threats before they can do anything.
ThreatLocker Support is available to answer questions, and 3rd Element has found that, on average, ThreatLocker Support responds within 17-18 seconds of initiating a support chat session.
3rd Element Consulting saw ThreatLocker at an event. The CEO, Dawn Sizer, remembers being excited about ThreatLocker after that first view. In her interview with ThreatLocker, Sizer said, “I looked at it [ThreatLocker] one time and said, ‘This is something we absolutely want.’” The CTO took a second look at ThreatLocker and agreed that ThreatLocker was something they wanted to add to their security offerings.
One of the types of municipalities that 3rd Element Consulting includes in their client verticals is Law Enforcement. Police officers often install different video-viewing applications to assist in playing security footage when investigating various events. Using ThreatLocker, 3rd Element Consulting has eliminated this shadow IT. Along with gaining control of the applications in this environment, ThreatLocker has provided some additional peace of mind for these businesses. Cybercriminals often target smaller local government agencies. Sizer said, “...the municipalities, they are so excited...they aren’t nearly the target -- because of ThreatLocker -- that they were previously.”
The Cannabis industry is currently growing rapidly. One cybersecurity challenge with managing organizations in the Cannabis vertical is that they view IT as a POS system. Although POS systems are a part of IT, they are a small part. Securing a POS system is a good security step, but it is counterintuitive if the IT infrastructure attached to it is left unsecured. 3rd Element Consulting has been on the leading edge of educating the Cannabis industry about proper IT and how they can best protect their business.
Dawn Sizer created a 10–15-minute PowerPoint presentation to share with 3rd Element clients before implementing ThreatLocker on their computers. She used a castle surrounded by a moat to explain the concept of Zero Trust. Once clients understood how ThreatLocker would help protect their castle, they were on board with adding ThreatLocker to their existing security strategy. Clients were initially hesitant as it was an additional cost, and they perceived it would limit their abilities. However, after they understood what the ThreatLocker product was doing, clients agreed that ThreatLocker was something they wanted to add to their security strategy. After implementing ThreatLocker, clients have provided positive feedback. Sizer states, "They really, truly, understand that the amount of cybersecurity we have put into their business is there to protect them.” 3rd Element received a recent Google review stating their security stack was second to none, and the reviewer had seen “a bunch” of security stacks. Sizer attributed this positive review to having ThreatLocker in 3rd Element’s security bundle.
