AIB Centralizes their Container Security with Aqua

AIB, Inc is a leading software developer and supplier for the retail automotive industry. They create and sell business-to-business software for titling and registering cars for the retail automotive industry. They have delivered highly successful solutions to automotive retail dealerships for more than 20 years and have over 1,600 customers throughout the U.S. in their automotive dealer network.

AIB was looking to transition its leading product, titlesDesk, from a traditional software platform to a completely cloud native SaaS solution.  AIB software manages the repetitive process of tax, title, and registration within automobile dealerships, and bridges the gap between auto dealers and government agencies to work seamlessly with county and state DMVs. Over the years, AIB has seen the industry move from a very manual process – which included having no databases, handwritten forms, and microfiche – to the completely digital system we have today.

At the time, titlesDesk was a desktop solution based on Microsoft Windows® and contained two systems: one that generated new titles and registration records, and the other reported on historical records. Since the output of the solution relied on personally identifiable information and sensitive institutional data, maintaining information security across multiple stakeholders was paramount. By making security a priority, AIB was able to build a secure on-premises system for its desktop software. However, this static configuration meant adding any new features required a lot of time and effort for AIB and their customers, while potentially introducing costly security issues.

But as technology evolved, so did AIB. They decided to research better ways to stay competitive and modernize its product platform. This led to AIB embracing the potential of cloud native technology, as they readied plans to release a SaaS version of their core product, TitleDirect. By the fall of 2019, AIB started replacing its legacy solution with a container-based application, using Kubernetes as its orchestration platform. With cloud applications providing ease of deployment, monitoring, and updating, AIB was confident it made the right decision for their customers and their business – but they still worried about finding the best security vendor to support their compliance requirements and desire to keep their customers’ information secure.

After a very successful rollout to customers, AIB’s SaaS solution is now completely accessible online, with no software to download. AIB chose AWS as its cloud provider, and runs using containers on Amazon EKS, managing its container images using the Amazon ECR registry. TitleDirect application users can now generate and print documents at the point of sale – right from their web browser, and while AIB had the usual challenges during their product transition, the adoption of the new system went very well.

However, AIB recognized they had to address their security concerns, and initiated a top-to-bottom internal audit. The audit revealed that their security, which included multiple vendors, lacked the centralized controls needed for a cloud native deployment. This was when AIB started researching security vendors and contacted Aqua Security about runtime security, vulnerability management, system reporting, and benchmarking. After investigating multiple security vendors, AIB chose and deployed Aqua CSP, which easily integrated into their Amazon EKS deployment.

“Aqua articulated a vision and path forward for the cloud native
security market that set them apart from competitors.”

Kellen Dunham, CTO at AIB, Inc.

With the Aqua platform, AIB was able to ensure application security from development to deployment:

• Works seamlessly with their CI/CD pipeline
• Prevents selected vulnerabilities from running anywhere in their environment
• Ensures container image integrity with drift prevention
• Provides granular audit and benchmark information to meet regulations
• Deploys easily on AIB’s Kubernetes clusters to enable runtime controls

AIB was impressed with the ease of deployment, the overall performance, and the peace of mind they found in the Aqua Security solution. In fact, AIB has already completed sunsetting its legacy system, with 100% of its TitleDirect customers now on the cloud native system.

Following their successful launch, AIB was impressed with many Aqua security features, such as vulnerability management and drift prevention, which are purpose-built to work in cloud native deployments. So much so, that AIB is now looking to move more products into containerized environments. They know the inherent capabilities found in cloud native deployments, coupled with Aqua’s ability to provide security at scale is an unbeatable combination.

“Aqua opened our eyes to the potential of what complete container security meant for our organization and their product offerings.”

Kellen Dunham, CTO at AIB, Inc.

With its end-to-end security, Aqua enables AIB to:

• Get constant real-time monitoring and feedback
• Enable security that is more effective and easier to manage than competing solutions
• Work securely with open source CI tools like Jenkins
• Confidently detect vulnerabilities in images
• Provide a basis for written security policies to meet municipal requirements
• Access data on any instance, containers, or OS – all in one place

AIB runs its TitleDirect application on Amazon EKS. They use Amazon ECR for the management of the images and Amazon EC2 instances for a variety of tools and rely on the management console to keep them informed on their deployments.