Detailresult Groep N.V. Drives Innovation and Uses Cloud Security with Infoblox

The Customer

Detailresult Groep N.V. (DRG) is a Dutch, family-owned enterprise that owns and operates leading supermarket chains Dirk and DekaMarkt. Founded in 2008, DRG is dedicated to making the lives of its customers more enjoyable and convenient by offering affordable and sustainably produced food and beverage products. DRG is a people- and results-oriented, cost-conscious and forward-thinking enterprise that strives to achieve its goals in socially responsible ways.

Since 2013, DRG has been a successful Infoblox customer and expert user of Infoblox solutions. The company, which reached over $2 billion in sales in 2019, is also an active member of the Infoblox Technical Advisory Board. Igor Van Den Ouden is an industry expert and veteran IT consultant for DRG. He and his team are responsible for managing and protecting the DRG network of more than 22,000 users across 202 retail shops and branch offices located throughout the Netherlands.

The Challenge – Leveraging DNS as an Essential Security Control

DRG is well informed on the rapidly evolving threat landscape and of the inherent vulnerabilities of DNS. The IT team already takes a proactive approach to security by performing an annual penetration testing program. It was during the 2018 pen test exercise that the team realized DNS was presenting an increasing security vulnerability to the company. Shortly thereafter Van Den Ouden and the DRG team began engaging with Infoblox on the importance of leveraging DNS as a security control. They began seeking out possible solutions, but with the unique challenges presented by a large retail operation, there were critical factors to consider. Indeed, with its fleet of vehicles, hundreds of locations and complex digital infrastructure, DRG needs to secure a bewildering array of endpoints and potential network vulnerabilities—including seasonal spikes in activity—that would be all but impossible to secure with a conventional approach to security.

Protecting the Network from the Core to the Edge

Here is where BloxOne Threat Defense Cloud entered the picture. The Infoblox solution uses DNS as a key security enforcement point, applying advanced threat intelligence and machine learning to uncover suspect behaviors within DNS traffic and at endpoints. In this way, Threat Defense is highly effective for routing out zero-day threats, ransomware exploits, Trojans and data exfiltration. When suspicious activity is identified, the solution intercepts that traffic, automatically preventing network devices from connecting to command and control servers and other cyberthreats, while allowing legitimate DNS traffic to flow freely. With BloxOne Threat Defense Cloud, the security team at DRG is able proactively stop threats at the network edge before significant damage can occur—thereby significantly improving the company’s security posture.

Like many enterprises today, DRG had identified DNS as an essential element to protect and centrally manage, yet found it challenging to get the most out of its DNS investment from a cybersecurity standpoint. DRG now has clear visibility into and can protect every endpoint device on its network, whether it’s an IoT sensor or transactional card reader in a store or delivery truck at a distribution warehouse. Van Den Ouden explains, “Infoblox’s cloud-based solution is easy to deploy and protects users anywhere. Adding cybersecurity to our existing core DDI implementation was a seamless process, and now the team can easily scale for growth and spikes in network activity.”

Accelerating Digital Transformation and Cloud Migration

As with other organizations relying heavily on IT and data to drive its business, DRG understands the cloud presents an excellent opportunity to modernize its network architecture to better drive innovation and digitally transform. Van Den Ouden explains, “Digital transformation, the Internet of Things and now the COVID-19 pandemic are massively disrupting the retail industry. Distribution is king in retail, which demands faster delivery, lower transport costs and the expansion of an online presence. We needed to be able to continue to drive innovation and maintain the best customer experience while meeting mandated safety standards.”

A Longtime Partnership and Superior Customer Experience

DRG and Infoblox have been working closely together since DRG chose Infoblox to meet its needs for enterprise-grade core DDI services in 2013. According to Van Den Ouden, “We are able to modernize our entire DDI infrastructure and integrate our existing security tools and applications and mange everything from a single console. Knowing that we don’t have to worry about our infrastructure or worry about having a complete system outage is priceless. It allows us to focus on innovation and providing the best customer service.”

For More Information

Learn more about how you can proactively detect malware and protect your users and data via DNS. Speak with an Infoblox representative or start your free trial of our BloxOne Threat Defense technology today.