Carhartt: Resilient Data for Resilient Workers

Challenge

TIGHTENING DATA SECURITY WITH A ZERO TRUST MINDSET

Prior to Rubrik, Carhartt used multiple disparate backup solutions across the enterprise, until an incident caused Cloud Platforms Manager, Michael Karasienski, to reevaluate Carhartt’s data protection strategy. “When our critical Product Lifecycle Management application upgrade failed and we went to restore, our legacy backup solution failed to restore. We then had to rebuild over two week’s worth of data manually,” says Karasienski. “This drove us to take a deeper look at our backup systems, and we found they were missing many SLAs. We realized we needed a modern data protection solution that we could trust.”

Attracted to Rubrik Security Cloud by its Zero Trust architecture, comprehensive data security solutions, ease of use, and alignment with Carhartt’s security ethos, Karasienski consolidated two legacy backup tools with a single modern data security platform. “Data resilience is key to the continued security and success of our business,” says Karasienski. “Rubrik Security Cloud is purpose-built, restoring data fast and without fail for both our cloud and on-premises environments.”

In light of ransomware and other cyberthreats, Carhartt relies on Rubrik’s immutable backups. “We work hard to ward off intruders but we have to operate on the assumption that they will find a way in,” says Karasienski. “With Rubrik’s immutability, we get an extra level of data protection. Rubrik plays a key role in building trust in our system with secure protocols and access controls.”

With Rubrik Security Cloud, Carhartt’s IT team can now devote more time to other priorities like business requests, incidents, and reducing technical debt.

Solution

GAINING GREATER DATA INSIGHTS FOR PRECISION PROTECTION

Carhartt is a highly interconnected business, so minimizing disruption is paramount. In the past, the team discovered malware in backups from its legacy tools. What followed was more than two weeks of searching through endless data sets to manually complete the investigation.

Now with Rubrik, the IT and Security teams are collaborating to reduce risk to the organization, zeroing in on malware and tying investigations into its security operations center. Restoring data from backups, in particular, must be safe, surgical, and swift. To avoid restoring from a compromised backup, Carhartt uses Rubrik Anomaly Detection to determine if individual files are suspect, potentially harboring malware.

Rubrik’s Sensitive Data Monitoring aids in precision surveillance of critical data, such as personal identifying information, to help the Carhartt team understand if any sensitive data has been compromised in the event of a cyber incident. “With Threat Hunting, Rubrik equips us to search for security issues, helping us keep a clean data set for fast and secure data recovery that protects our reputation for dependable, trustworthy services,” says Carhartt’s Senior Manager of Cybersecurity, Duane Hopkins.

To further enrich, expedite, and automate its threat investigations, Carhartt is integrating Rubrik with Microsoft Sentinel. “Our legacy systems were not able to pinpoint data in a timely manner during investigations,” says Hopkins. “With Rubrik and Microsoft, we can create visibility within our environment.”

“Rubrik Security Cloud gives our team a centralized view of all the data for all systems across the Carhartt landscape. The combination of Anomaly Detection, Sensitive Data Monitoring, and air gapping makes Rubrik stand out from a Zero Trust security perspective,” says Hopkins. “Rubrik isn’t just a data security solution, it’s peace of mind for our brand.”