OVERVIEW

NTT DOCOMO, Japan's largest telecommunications company, provides innovative, convenient, and secure mobile services to consumers and businesses. The company serves more than 71 million customers in Japan over advanced wireless networks, including a nationwide LTE network and one of the world's most progressive LTE-Advanced networks. In 2012, NTT DOCOMO began leveraging Amazon Web ServicesSM (AWS) cloud solutions for cellphone and smartphone service in an effort to make IT more responsive to business and customer needs.

CHALLENGES

NTT DOCOMO’s Cloud Solution Team in its Innovation Management Department has helped the business units to develop many services for cellphones and smartphones running on AWS, and now uses AWS to support its data analysis systems. “Our role is to expand cloud usage internally in ways that produce real company benefits. We also sell docomo cloud package, which is based on our own best practices,” said Yuki Moritani, Team Manager.

However, when NTT DOCOMO needed to ensure security for the cloud-based services it provided to customers, it required additional security for AWS cloud workloads. The company’s strict security regulations mandated that 280 security requirements be met before any cloud-based service could be launched. “To fulfill these requirements, it quickly became evident that we needed something on top of the AWS security functions that would further protect our cloud services,” said Hiroki Moriya, Cloud Solution Team member.

WHY TREND

After a thorough search for an AWS security solution, NTT DOCOMO selected Trend Micro™ Deep Security™. The choice was simple: “Deep Security was the gold standard for server security on AWS. No other product provided such thorough protection. Deep Security remains the go-to cloud security solution,” said Moritani.

The multi functionality of Deep Security was highly appealing to the Cloud Solution Team. “To protect services on AWS from cyber attacks, you need multi-layer protection. Deep Security includes firewall protection, intrusion detection systems (IDS) and intrusion protection systems (IPS),” said Moriya.

NTT DOCOMO found the centralized management of Deep Security also compelling. “We appreciate the comprehensive change monitoring and log monitoring functionality Deep Security provides,” said Moriya.

SOLUTION

Many business units at NTT DOCOMO have acquired an AWS account and are independently developing and running services for customers. Moritani and his team support security for all these units from Trend Micro Deep Security agents installed on hundreds of cloud servers throughout the company. “Deep Security is simple to install and is easy to administer, so it doesn’t adversely affect the speed of service launch or expansion,” said Moriya.

Deep Security also allows them to centralize security in a multi-tenant environment. “Business units can develop and run their own services, while our team takes care of standard security for everyone and provides specialized security measures to groups as needed,” said Moritani.

RESULTS

For NTT DOCOMO, Deep Security has proven its worth. “We were recently on the receiving end of a cyberattack seeking to exploit the terrorist attacks in Europe, but Deep Security detected and protected us. Its defensive capability is invaluable,” said Moriya.

Moritani believes a particularly significant benefit is the ability to employ security measures specifically designed for the cloud. “We use the cloud to increase business speed and flexibility, and it is important that the security features we implement do not adversely affect those advantages,” said Moritani.

Finally, NTT DOCOMO notes that the widespread use of Deep Security among cloud users increases its value. “Deep Security is the de-facto standard in the cloud security market. There are many engineers and IT vendors with solution expertise who are willing to share their insight. This is a major benefit for us,” said Moritani

WHAT'S NEXT

The Cloud Solution Team plans to expand the use of Deep Security™ within NTT DOCOMO and refers Deep Security features in docomo cloud package it sells to customers. “Deep Security can be flexibly applied to systems of any scale in the cloud. When used properly, it can fulfill the requirements of internal systems and meet the varied security needs of our customers,” said Moritani.