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Multi-factor authentication (MFA) for a large manufacturing company to meet local security requirements

  • Aluminium Dunkerque
  • Manufacturing
  • France
Multi-Factor Authentication for a Large Manufacturing Company to Meet Local Security Requirements

Aluminium Dunkerque is Europe’s largest primary aluminum smelter, specializing in the production of aluminum sheets/slabs and ingots for applications in transportation, automotive, aerospace, packaging, building, and construction sectors. Aluminium Dunkerque is also positioned as a world leader in sustainable and carbon-neutral aluminum for its customers and community.

"One of the most simple tools I've ever seen."

Pascal Boulogne - IT Manager

The Challenge

Deploying MFA to meet ANSSI best practices

In 2021, Aluminium Dunkerque was bought by American Industrial Partners, a private equity firm. This sale, as well as their new Microsoft Office 365 tenancy, prompted the organization to make the decision to deploy MFA across all employees. Their goal was, and is, to secure access to both local applications and the cloud, and to better protect their high-privilege administrators for remote access.

The Solution

Revisiting UserLock for MFA implementation

The IT team originally found UserLock thanks to an online search of Active Directory monitoring solutions. At the time, they were looking for contextual restrictions and the ability to more easily monitor users in real-time.

Then, when the IT team was looking for an MFA solution, they turned back to UserLock.

After testing UserLock’s MFA, they confirmed that it would help them align with ANSSI security requirements. They didn’t feel the need to test any other solutions.

"We use the Microsoft Authenticator app, and found it really simple to set up with UserLock. The authentication process is quick and easy for our users."

Pascal Boulogne - IT Manager

The Result

Satisfying ANSSI requirements with lightweight MFA and user access tracking

For over six years now, UserLock has enabled the IT team to monitor access outside of work hours, along with all user login logoff activity.

Since they first onboarded the solution, the IT team has detected and quickly blocked abnormal connections thanks to UserLock’s real-time monitoring. And now, with MFA, the team has access to an additional security measure to secure external and admin connections, like RDP sessions. This means they can now align with ANSSI MFA requirements without onboarding and investing in an additional tool.

"I’d recommend UserLock as an MFA solution but also as an easy way to monitor Active Directory user activity. And UserLock also helps us align with the recommendations from ANSSI. We chose UserLock based on this security aspect."

Pascal Boulogne - IT Manager