Catalyst Conference: Client Case Study

Chevron Energy

Improving Security: The Driving Need for Change at Chevron

"We wanted to play a proactive role in leading the energy industry toward improving corporate security." –Edmund Yee, Senior Architect, Chevron

As the world’s fifth–largest energy company, Chevron is engaged in every aspect of the oil and natural gas industry. Its various business units span more than 200 countries with a PC user base of over 50,000 employees, 20,000 contractors and 7,000 third–party users.

In 2001, an internal audit revealed the need for better facility and network access security. Chevron undertook an internal project to bolster its network infrastructure and facilities security. “We worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security,” explains Edmund Yee, senior architect at Chevron. “We wanted to play a proactive role in leading the energy industry toward improving corporate security.” After developing a list of must–have capabilities, Chevron’s IT staff spent several months exploring available offerings before choosing a solution that integrates both physical and logical security in one system.

Challenge:

Create better network and facilities security through improved identity management (IdM)
Address IdM requirements for individual users, administrative staff, third parties, devices and application services
Provide strong identity with a minimum of two-factor network authentication
Ensure that all information stored in the metadirectory is correct

Solutions:

Implemented individual corporate identity cards for both network and facilities access
An enterprise metadirectory manages all user identities
Identity provisioning is handled through Active Directory
The PKI component features full encryption and digital signatures
Token-based authentication provides secure remote access to more than 20,000 users
Desktop enforcement tools ensure user moves are captured by the metadirectory and that strong authentication is used for network access

Results:

Bolstered both physical and logical security
Strengthened authentication and its security components
Improved directory management and provisioning while reducing administration overhead
Reduced user identity provisioning time from days and weeks to minutes and hours

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