Ecosystem Security: The State of Puebla’s Success Story

In Mexico, the State of Puebla, one of 32 states, is the first in the nation to have launched a comprehensive digital governance initiative with the aim of increasing the accessibility of state-sponsored services.

At the outset, the state wanted to make services available to 6.5 million people across 217 municipalities. Today, Puebla offers approximately 116 fully online services, simplifying access and ensuring that citizens do not have to travel to a physical location.

The success of the initiative is evidenced by the numbers. In 2023 alone, the state recorded an impressive 13 million online interactions.

The Security Imperative

The General Director of Digital Government within the State of Puebla, Pedro Vallejo, spearheaded the effort with much enthusiasm.

However, as services expanded, Vallejo and his team recognized that high efficacy cyber security would be critical to supporting online offerings – where personal data was shared –  and to retaining public trust.

“We’re creating an extension of the government to enable citizens to reach services from their homes or any place where they want to do their business online in a safe and reliable environment,” Vallejo said.

With 85% of Puebla’s infrastructure managed in the cloud, Vallejo and his team brushed up against a novel set of challenges.

The state’s existing cyber security tools were aging, and wouldn’t fully protect a hybrid environment – cloud systems, physical infrastructure, endpoints and users.

A Comprehensive Security Strategy:

In order to identify and implement an effective solution, the State of Puebla, as led by Vallejo, turned to Check Point.

Through the Infinity Platform, the State of Puebla implemented a multi-layered security approach that provided granular protection across the state’s entire digital ecosystem.

Key Components of the Infinity Platform:

1) CloudGuard: A Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP), this tool secures Puebla’s public cloud – from development to run-time – offering comprehensive cloud security.

2) Check Point Code Security: Part of the CloudGuard CNAPP, this solution keeps code artifacts secure and compliant throughout the development lifecycle.

3) Harmony Email & Collaboration Suite: This protects the state’s email communications and Google Workspace applications, safeguarding against phishing and other email-based threats.

“We now have full control of our public cloud, and, thanks to Harmony Email and Collaboration, we have comprehensive reports every day. This enables us to act and improve the security of our email, ” said Juan Carlos Rodriguez, IT Manager for the State of Puebla.

Further Information

As Vallejo phrased it, “With Check Point, we have the level of security, granular control visibility and management capabilities that we need.”

The State of Puebla’s success story challenges other government entities and organizations to reimagine what they can do, especially when innovative cyber security is within arm’s reach.

Learn more here.