How Austrotherm Transformed IT Security Across 13 Countries with Unified SASE Architecture

INDUSTRY
Manufacturing

HEADQUARTERS
Waldegg/Wopfing, Austria

COMPANY SIZE
1,400 employees

OVERVIEW

The Austrotherm Group is a family-owned Austrian enterprise. In addition to its headquarters in Wopfing, production sites in Pinkafeld and Purbach and its three locations in Turkey, the leader in insulation is represented by organizations in Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. Along with the Baumit and Murexin groups, the Austrotherm group is part of Schmid Industrie Holding.

OUR SOLUTION

• Hybrid Mesh Network Security
• Workspace Security
• Check Point Services

Check Point gave us everything we need, including SASE for easy remote access, improved endpoint security, zero trust network access design, firewalls, and more.
Markus Zack Head of Group IT at Austrotherm GmbH

CHALLENGE

When Markus Zack took over as head of group IT at Austrotherm GmbH, a European manufacturer of high-quality thermal and acoustic insulation materials, he inherited a security infrastructure that could no longer keep pace with the cyber security needs of a manufacturing company operating 36 production sites across 13 countries. The Austrian-based manufacturer faced mounting security challenges across multiple fronts. Perhaps the biggest challenge was its email security, as Austrotherm had been relying on popular antivirus and firewall software. “We were facing substantial phishing attacks,” Zack explained. The volume of suspicious emails began to overwhelm both security and support staff, with help desk tickets frequently requesting that IT verify whether messages were legitimate or phishing attempts.

Remote access created serious problems. The company relied on a certificate-based VPN client that proved unreliable. The intermittent connectivity frustrated remote workers and created operational bottlenecks for a workforce that increasingly needed flexible access to manufacturing systems and administrative applications across Europe.

Access control presented additional complexity in Austrotherm’s hybrid technical environment. This OT/IT convergence requires strict network segmentation to prevent potential security incidents in one environment from cascading into the other.

The need to enhance cyber security capabilities grew more urgent as Austrotherm pursued aggressive growth, including the 2025 acquisition of Italy’s largest installation materials company, which would add eight production facilities requiring immediate, secure integration.

SOLUTION

Following a comprehensive vendor evaluation, Austrotherm selected Check Point’s integrated security portfolio, deploying Check Point SASE (both Internet Access and Private Access packages), Check Point Spark Firewall, and Check Point Email Security across 720 licensed users. “Check Point Portal—a unified management console that would eliminate the screen-hopping that plagued daily operations—provided us one place where we can configure every security tool and a complete overview of where we stand,” Zack explained.

Check Point SASE addressed the remote access challenges through a zero-trust network access (ZTNA) architecture. Rather than backhauling all traffic through Austria, Austrotherm could now deploy multiple gateway locations across Europe, enabling staff to connect to the nearest point of presence.

For email security, Check Point Email Security replaced the underperforming prior email security software. Side-by-side comparisons during their evaluation revealed that their previous system was allowing significant quantities of phishing emails to reach users’ inboxes.

The hybrid architecture combined cloud-delivered SASE services with on-premises Check Point Spark Firewall at larger sites. VLAN segmentation separated office networks from production environments.

Implementation partner Bacher Systems, a Check Point services provider in Austria, assisted with detailed design and configuration following Austrotherm’s selection of Check Point.

OUTCOME

The transformation delivered quantifiable improvements across multiple dimensions. Email security witnessed the most dramatic change. Check Point Email Security blocked 20-30% more phishing attempts than the previous email security software, while help desk tickets requesting verification of suspicious emails dropped by 70%.

The company’s remote access connectivity issues essentially disappeared. Over six months following full deployment, Austrotherm’s IT team received zero tickets related to VPN connection issues or remote access failures.

The unified management console delivered operational efficiency gains, freeing the small IT security team to focus on strategic initiatives rather than daily firefighting. The comprehensive security platform has positioned the manufacturer to pursue continued growth while maintaining robust protection across its expanding European operations.