StreamSets is a data integration platform that’s trusted by the largest companies in the world. The software development company helps power millions of data pipelines for modern analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and more.
StreamSets was founded in 2015 to better manage data integration in the modern world. Through automation, StreamSets streamlines data engineering time and resources, so data teams spend less time fixing and more time doing.
Director of IT Victor Nee leads the small but mighty IT team at StreamSets. Keeping company documents secure has become a priority for Nee and the team. They had set up data loss prevention (DLP) alerts but were having trouble gleaning valuable insight from them.
Most alerts were false positives that took valuable time to investigate and did not offer meaningful information.
Nee said his team was not staffed to dig through every alert and false positive that came in. But they also did not want to lock down all document sharing, which would make it harder for StreamSets employees to do their jobs.
So, the StreamSets team turned to Nira.
Nira’s solution allowed Nee and the team to find the right compromise between smooth collaboration and strong information security measures.
Nira helps us find that middle ground where we're more secure than ever before and more comfortable with collaboration than before.Victor Nee,Director of IT
Gain a complete overview of the security landscape
Nira allows StreamSets to investigate and remediate risks
Nee uses Nira to get full visibility into potential risks, a stark contrast from other tools which he explained offer limited insight. Nee and the team want a full overview of their security posture, in order to be proactive and prioritize what issues to dig into.
With Nira, I’m searching for trends, getting a snapshot of our security landscape, and seeing if there are things that need immediate action or things that I can take time to investigate.Victor Nee,Director of IT
Nira allows Nee and the team to gain complete visibility and control over who has access to their company documents. They receive an accurate overview of the access risks they have, including files shared with unauthorized external parties. They no longer have to go digging for issues like expired vendor access or files that have been overshared within the company.
I appreciate that Nira surfaces risks that I wouldn't know about otherwise.Victor Nee,Director of IT
Nira’s level of visibility and control has been game-changing, according to Nee. It provides the team with more than false positives and alerts, saving them time and resources
“The initial wow factor for Nira was its sheer visibility. It takes us to another level,” Nee explained.
Empower end users to secure company data
StreamSets uses Nira to give employees the right tools to protect company assets
Nee and the team trust StreamSets employees to treat company assets with the proper level of care and security. However, without the right tools, Nee maintains, employees can only go so far.
Nira is one tool we can provide for employees so they can take ownership of their data security.Victor Nee,Director of IT
Nee was able to roll out Nira’s Employee Security Portal, which allows employees to view and clean up their own access and permissions issues.
“We empower the user to treat these digital assets appropriately. If something’s supposed to be public, that’s great. If something’s supposed to be guarded with care, they can do that,” Nee said.
Nee says administrators can offer periodic reminders about how to use Nira and give insight into new features coming out, which shows employees how to best utilize the tool. Rather than locking down all sharing, the security portal helps employees do their jobs with ease.
We don't want to be in the middle of brokering every single end-user decision. Nira helps employees take control and secure their files.Victor Nee,Director of IT
Restrict access to personal accounts and stale documents
Nira helps StreamSets resolve issues with personal email accounts and outdated files
When it comes to finding and fixing risks, Nee and the team can easily identify the number of documents shared with personal email accounts and the number of stale files in Google Drive, key aspects of document security.
Without Nira, we would never have been able to see the number of files that were shared with personal accounts.Victor Nee,Director of IT
The ability to view and restrict personal email accounts has been huge, according to Nee. The problem with personal email accounts is they have inherent risks. They’re made for personal use, without IT oversight, and often have fewer security protections. What’s more, this type of access can continue long after employees have left the company.
“We can’t have ex-employees being able to poke around company documents. Even when you trust the person, you can’t have those security and compliance gaps,” Nee explained.
With Nira, Nee and the team can view every single document shared with a personal email account, and then swiftly restrict access. They can also see any documents that haven’t been modified in a certain period of time, and then ensure those documents are restricted and do not have any personal email accounts associated with them.
The ability to remove access to stale, outdated information has been powerful, Nee says.
Before Nira, there wasn’t a great way to surface stale documents. Now, we can see and take action on them with a few clicks, and we can do that for hundreds of thousands of files at once.Victor Nee,Director of IT
A proactive solution that bolsters IT, security, and compliance
Nee wears several different hats at StreamSets. Not only is he the Director of IT, but he’s also in charge of information security and compliance for the company. Nee manages three teams that collaborate on numerous initiatives.
Information security and IT work closely together to safeguard the assets of the company while promoting customer trust. Meanwhile, compliance is concerned with how the company’s controls are operating.
Nira falls in the bucket of tools we can actively use to bolster IT, security, and compliance.Victor Nee,Director of IT
For Nee and the team, Nira has been fundamental when keeping files within their cloud collaboration environment secure, while streamlining the process.
“Without Nira, you wouldn’t know where your files are being shared, who they’re being shared with, who has been accessing these files, and when was the last time they were accessed by external parties,” Nee said.
If you’re a Google Workspace user, Nira is essential.Victor Nee,Director of IT