Case Study Reducing Cyber Risk and Streamlining SOC Operations Reducing Cyber Risk and Streamlining SOC Operations The Client North Sydney Council is one of Sydney’s major central metropolitan councils, supporting more than 70,000 residents and employing over 400 staff while delivering a wide range of essential community services. Challenges Limited and unresponsive support for existing SOC and SIEM platforms Escalating costs with diminishing operational value Insufficient visibility, leading to security gaps and missed threats Our Solution Responsive, reliable SOC and engineering support A cost-effective, integrated SecOps platform A centralised dashboard providing deep, actionable visibility Operating Without 24/7 Security Coverage Robust cyber security is critical for local councils that deliver essential services, manage public-facing systems, and handle large volumes of sensitive data. For North Sydney Council, maintaining effective security operations was challenging without the ability to monitor and respond to threats around the clock. As Robert Glinski, Team Leader Digital Platforms, explains: “We’re not a 24/7 shop, so that makes things difficult, trying to get things done out of hours.” Without continuous monitoring and the right operational support, threats were more likely to be missed and security gaps increased over time. Although the council already had a Security Operations Centre (SOC) and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution in place, the service was no longer delivering value. Support had become slow and unresponsive, while costs continued to rise. Robert reflects: “The service just wasn’t there for the money that was being asked. It was making our life more difficult – we had to do a lot of extra work because we couldn’t get the support we needed.” This combination of limited coverage, poor responsiveness, and increasing cost ultimately drove the council to look for a more effective SecOps platform and support model. Choosing a Platform That Delivered Value When evaluating alternative providers, the council assessed each platform based on capability, cost, and operational impact. ThreatDefence stood out for delivering broader functionality without the escalating costs they were experiencing elsewhere. As Robert explains: “They do a lot more than others do, for a reasonable price.” The team also saw clear value in strengthening their security posture through an integrated SecOps platform combining Network Detection and Response (NDR), SOC, and SIEM capabilities. Onboarding was straightforward and low-impact. “It was very easy, and the support guys were very helpful. It was a really good experience,” says Robert. North Sydney Council has worked with ThreatDefence since 2024. Improved Visibility and Reduced Risk Once the ThreatDefence platform was implemented, the council began to see tangible improvements almost immediately. The availability of continuous monitoring and more comprehensive telemetry meant threats that previously went unnoticed were now being detected in real time. Pretty much straight away, we were getting alerts all the time, and that was good because we didn’t get that with the previous vendor. Robert Glinski Team Leader Digital Platforms A major improvement was the introduction of a centralised, streamlined dashboard that consolidated security events across the environment. Instead of dealing with fragmented data and excessive noise, the IT team could focus on alerts that genuinely required attention. “The most valuable capability is probably the collation of all the alerts into one spot, and the filtering of all the noise,” Robert explains. This level of visibility allowed the council to identify long-standing security gaps, misconfigurations, and risky behaviours that had previously gone undetected. Addressing these issues strengthened the council’s overall cyber security posture and reduced exposure across both user and system activity. “A lot of things have been cleaned up.” Crucially, these improvements did not increase the operational burden on the internal IT team. Instead, the platform reduced day-to-day workload by handling alert triage and prioritisation, allowing the team to focus on escalations and response rather than constant monitoring. “It’s saving us time because we don’t have to worry about things as much. ThreatDefence takes care of a lot of the alerts, and we just get the escalations,” says Robert. The enhanced visibility also enabled a more proactive approach to risk management, with the council able to identify and respond to issues earlier in the attack lifecycle. “With all the visibility we’re getting, it’s reducing our risk because we’re seeing things before they become an issue. There’s definitely been instances where we wouldn’t have seen threats coming otherwise.” One such incident involved a compromised user account on a BYOD device. Because suspicious activity was detected quickly, the council was able to intervene immediately, contain the issue, and prevent any impact on internal systems. Responsive, Reliable Support In addition to improved visibility and reduced operational burden, responsive support has been a key factor in the council’s experience. Having direct access to knowledgeable engineers and timely responses has removed friction from day-to-day security operations and reduced the need for follow-ups or workarounds. Reflecting on working with the ThreatDefence team, Robert comments: “It’s very easy, the support is very good. When I ask for something, I actually get an answer back. The support’s there when it’s needed, and I’m happy with that.” This level of responsiveness has given the IT team confidence that issues will be addressed promptly and that support will be available when it matters most, including during time-sensitive security events. Protect Your Organization With ThreatDefence Get Started