The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission, known as Explore St. Louis, is the official organization in charge of promoting St. Louis City and St. Louis County for conventions, meetings, and leisure activities. It also manages the America’s Center Convention Complex. Explore St. Louis collaborates with over 750 local partners—including hotels, restaurants, attractions, and service providers—to draw citywide conventions, single-hotel meetings, sports events, group tours, and individual tourists to the area. However, overseeing America’s Center Convention Complex and its numerous events, involves a wide range of operational and technological challenges.
Darren Ison serves as the Director of IT at Explore St. Louis, where he and his team secure the organization’s IT setup and its endpoints. Moreover, they are responsible for ensuring the cyber safety of America’s Center Convention Complex. This venue hosts about 109 events annually, attracting 600,000 visitors each year. According to Darren, “One of our biggest challenges is our large external production network, which spans the St. Louis Convention Center and the Dome. Because of this, the number of potential breach entry points is vast, ranging from the center’s automation systems, IoT devices, to the Wi-Fi network.”
As a public commission, Explore St. Louis faces a major challenge: safeguarding sensitive information in an environment that is fundamentally open and interconnected. From protecting personally identifiable information (PII) to securing a broad network that includes IoT devices, automation systems, and public Wi-Fi, the organization needed a strong cyber security solution that could adapt to its complex and constantly evolving infrastructure.
The Challenge: Securing an Expansive Network with Limited Resources
Explore St. Louis’s IT team was tasked with securing:
- A public-facing network with multiple entry points
- Sensitive PII and operational data across its systems
- An extensive network of IoT devices and automation systems within the America’s Center Convention Complex
Intensifying this task was the requirement to maintain 24/7 security for the organization’s endpoints, email systems, and perimeter defenses, all while managing a small IT staff.
The Solution: Check Point’s Comprehensive Cyber Security Suite
To address these challenges, Explore St. Louis adopted the Check Point Infinity Platform for flexibility and scalability. This partnership transformed their security operations with a suite of solutions tailored to fit their needs:
- Check Point Quantum Security Gateways:
These gateways delivered advanced threat prevention, low CVE counts, and high-performance policy management. “We chose Quantum Gateways because of their strong reputation and ability to secure our vast network without compromising performance,” Darren shared.
- Check Point Harmony Solutions:
Check Point Harmony Email and Collaboration: This tool provided real-time phishing protection and unique insights into Explore St. Louis’s Azure environment, enhancing visibility and security for email and collaboration tools.
Harmony Endpoint: Offering 360-degree endpoint protection, this solution simplified deployment and provided centralized visibility, consolidating multiple tools into a single pane of glass for the IT team.
- Infinity Managed Detection and Response (MDR):
By leveraging Check Point’s Infinity MDR services, Explore St. Louis gained access to a complete SecOps-as-a-Service offering, enabling Check Point’s experts to monitor and respond to threats. “With MDR, we don’t just react to threats; we proactively manage them,” said Darren.
- Quantum Smart-1 Cloud:
Using Quantum Smart-1 Cloud provided seamless management of on-premise and cloud security, enabling the Explore St. Louis IT team to focus on more critical tasks.
Results: Efficiency, Proactive Defense, and Peace of Mind
Since implementing Check Point’s solutions, Explore St. Louis has transformed its cyber security posture. It has improved its efficiency with automation and centralized management, the small IT team has more time to focus on critical tasks.
Secondly, they focus on proactive threat management, leveraging real-time insights and MDR services to identify and mitigate threats before they escalate. To top that off, the consolidating of all these tools eliminated the need for additional in-house staff and reduced operational expenses.
“What surprised me most was how many issues we missed before consolidating our security products,” Darren admitted. “Now, I sleep better at night knowing that the MDR team is handling threats for us.”
Looking Ahead: The Role of AI in Cyber security
Explore St. Louis is excited about the future of AI-driven cyber security. Darren expressed enthusiasm about Check Point’s upcoming Infinity AI Copilot, which promises to revolutionize threat analysis and resolution.
“AI has the potential to transform how we approach threat hunting and response,” Darren said. “It’s a game changer that will free up even more time for our team while improving our defenses.”
Conclusion: A Model for Public Cyber security Success
Explore St. Louis’s partnership with Check Point demonstrates how even small IT teams can manage vast, complex networks effectively with the right tools and expertise. By adopting a comprehensive, scalable, and proactive approach to cyber security, they’ve secured their operations, safeguarded visitor data, and set a benchmark for public organizations navigating today’s digital landscape.