Leasing Company Enhances Security with Microsegmentation

As a leader in Brazil's mobility and automotive leasing market, LM Mobilidade has grown significantly, providing customers with a wide range of solutions from vehicle sales to leasing and heavy-duty truck rentals. However, with this growth came increased exposure to cyberthreats, especially as the company transitioned its operations to digital platforms.

Quickly, it became clear that the most urgent concern should be ransomware. “I believe since a growing number of companies started being attacked by ransomware, it became the top one priority in cybersecurity investments,” said Filipe Fonseca, Executive Manager of Cybersecurity at LM Mobilidade. “Today, every company has this concern and, in consequence, is careful with its security not to become another victim.”

To tackle its cybersecurity issues, LM Mobilidade uses Akamai Guardicore Segmentation. It's a microsegmentation tool that improves visibility and control over network traffic. “One of the main reasons we chose Akamai Guardicore Segmentation was for the visibility it gave us into what was moving within our network. With Akamai Guardicore Segmentation, we were able to segment our environment and block any unauthorized communications,” Fonseca said. "This minimized the risk of lateral movement in case of an attack. Once we had visibility into our ecosystem, we could start creating more efficient processes and stronger defenses,” he added.

According to Fonseca, the key challenge was in shifting from traditional security methods to a more proactive approach: “At first we had that mindset that a good antivirus and a firewall would be enough.” Adopting Akamai Guardicore Segmentation brought maturity to the company’s cybersecurity.

For Fonseca, choosing Akamai Guardicore Segmentation was not a hard decision. “We didn’t even test another solution because there isn’t anything comparable. I have been a customer of Akamai for a few years now. Wherever I go, it's a solution I always try to bring because it always exceeds expectations. Also, no other solution can match Akamai's microsegmentation solution.”

The implementation process also exceeded LM Mobilidade’s expectations. “One of the most significant benefits was how the solution raised awareness among our IT team,” said Fonseca. “Akamai’s team guided our team step by step and helped us understand how to get the most out of the platform. We didn’t know how vulnerable we were before they showed us our configuration vulnerabilities. They helped us adopt best practices when building new environments.”

The ease of implementation meant LM Mobilidade saw immediate results. “The solution was very simple to implement across our systems. We blocked unauthorized communications, both internally and externally. Akamai Guardicore Segmentation revealed vulnerabilities we didn’t even know existed, and within no time, we had control over them,” Fonseca noted.

Since using Akamai Guardicore Segmentation, the company has blocked more than 30,000 malicious attack attempts. “The cost of even one of these would have been enormous,” Fonseca said, then added, "Not only have we gained more control, the business has had significant cost savings and avoided ransomware attacks that could have led to costly downtime and data recovery.”

Fonseca said that even his quality of life has improved since the adoption of Akamai’s solution: “I can now sleep in peace because I know that [it] is a powerful tool, which blocks threats even when I am not at work.”

Looking ahead, LM Mobilidade plans to expand its use of Akamai Guardicore Segmentation to cover more assets and regions. “Right now, we are using the solution to protect our servers, but we want to extend that to all our assets, including our branches,” Fonseca explained. “We also see opportunities to integrate more AI-driven intelligence into our security processes, using Akamai to enhance our ability to act quickly on potential threats.

“When we identify a security gap, we don’t hide it and say: ‘We’ll fix it later.’ Later can be too late. When we find a vulnerability — something that poses potential risk to the company — we treat it as it should [be treated, whether by] exposing it or by asking for more investments. So my piece of advice is: Do not neglect cybersecurity.”

For more than 40 years, LM Mobilidade has been a leading provider of mobility solutions for individuals and businesses across Brazil. Founded in Bahia by Luiz Mendonça Filho, the company expanded in 2022 by joining the Volkswagen Group through a partnership with Volkswagen Financial Services. LM Mobilidade offers customized services, including fleet outsourcing, vehicle subscriptions, pre-owned sales, and rentals for app drivers. With a focus on quality and efficiency, we help people and businesses move forward by addressing key mobility challenges in Brazil.