RL - Public Sector

axway.com 2 providers. Danish Defence needed to securely communicate with hospitals and doctors on the healthcare network. A typical use case would be to organize medical checkups for fighter pilots before they deployed. Although the solution would initially be used within Denmark, the goal was also to use the solution with international partners, in the context of Denmark's role as a NATO ally and member of the European Union. To avoid the "Snowden Effect," be proactive "We had to set up a secure connection to transport information in both directions," said Commander Kim Holm, Head of Policy & Architecture, Danish Defence IT. "We also had to control the information, both when we're sending it out and when it comes into our system." For outgoing transmissions, Danish Defence needed to specify normal behavior, so as to detect unusual behavior, and then permit or deny a transmission according to a set of rules, examining the sender, the proposed recipient, the volume and type of data being sent, and the date and time. "We don't want to have a Snowden effect," Holm stressed. "We needed to verify, for example, whether there is authorization to send hundreds of documents to a particular person's e-Boks. If the transmission is authorized, we release it; if it's unauthorized, the documents don't get sent." For incoming transmissions, Danish Defence needed to be able to inspect XML-based information and PDF attachments. From the start, they decided not to accept Word or Excel documents, given the risk they contain code or viruses. Reducing the workload and slashing costs Another challenge for Danish Defence was to automate its processes. "Everything we did was manual," said Holm. To send data electronically, for example, they transferred data from a secure computer onto a USB key, walked the USB key over to an internet-connected computer, and then sent the files to e-Boks. It was a labor-intensive, expensive process. Another major source of costs was the extensive use of postal mailings for many or even most of the documents sent by Danish Defence. Axway, Axiomatics and Sopra Steria for the win For several years, Danish Defence had been studying the issue of secure communications from the architectural standpoint. However, when the national law passed that mandated the use of e-Boks, they needed to move ahead – and quickly. In line with European Union regulations, Danish Defence issued a public call for tender.

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