The Formula 1 team of Mercedes-AMG Petronas, one of the main animators of the maximum motorsport competition worldwide, chose the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike for the protection of their equipment and as an invaluable ally when analyzing millions of data from multiple sources.
Formula 1 is one of the most recognized skills in the use of technology, applied to achieve reduced times (every second counts) and thus achieve sports success. It’s not just about having excellent drivers and powerful engines, but a lot of details related to engineering and data analysis which makes the difference. Each vehicle is equipped with up to 300 sensors, which measure from the pressure of the tires at every moment and the temperature, acceleration and force, among thousands of other data. In total, more than one terabyte of data is generated every race weekend. All this is transmitted, almost in real time, to the engineering team on the track and in the factory.
But that huge mass of data can be plausible from attacks by cybercriminals willing to make an economic profit or even sell the data to other teams, which can thus gain a competitive advantage. That’s why Mercedes-AMG Petronas relied on CrowdStrike’s services to provide protection for their data, not only those taken during training and racing, but at all times and places.
“As a team, we generate, process and analyze significant amounts of data quickly. We must ensure that our information systems are an element that facilitates performance and not an obstacle. But, at the same time, we have to ensure that these are safe”.
-Michael Taylor, IT Director of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team
The competition of F1 takes place throughout the year in more than 20 countries, so the company needs constant protection at its local facilities, the factory, headquarters and all devices (endpoints) used by its employees, no matter where in the world you are playing a competition.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas chose the CrowdStrike Falcon platform, capable of managing the full spectrum of threats, including prevention, detection and response.
In that sense, Mercedes-AMG Petronas chose the CrowdStrike Falcon platform, capable of managing the entire spectrum of threats, including prevention, detection and response. At the same time, Falcon’s cloud-native technology allows continuous monitoring of the threat environment, avoiding the need for manual scanning.
It is a security tool that collects high-fidelity telemetry from millions of endpoints around the world, analyzing and indexing billions of events per week for fast and efficient access. In this way, you can monitor the company’s internal network for suspicious activities, as well as identify and proactively respond to threats detected by CrowdStrike on networks of other customers.
“Thanks to CrowdStrike, we know exactly what we’re up against, offering visibility we’ve never had before”.
-Rob Thomas, COO Formula 1 team Mercedes-AMG Petronas
But not only that, with the Complete version of Falcon (the one chosen in this case) CrowdStrike also provides a complete and clear picture of exactly what is happening around the world, 24×7, and prepare an intelligence report before each race. This document highlights the potential threats that may arise at each event and what is being done to proactively neutralize them. It also includes specific recommendations for equipment, such as which devices are not safe to take to the competition site or which must be turned off at certain times, so Mercedes-AMG Petronas can design a comprehensive strategy that will allow you to focus on the race.
In this way, they offer the client a high level of protection, without the burden of having to create and manage a cybersecurity program or hire and train staff.
More information
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