Accelleron Turbocharges Email Security and Efficiency with Abnormal

Accelleron knows the power of speed and efficiency. The 2022 spin-off of Global 500 company ABB provides high-power turbochargers, software, and services for the marine, rail, and energy sectors, with solutions that help customers optimise and decarbonise their operations. Accelleron’s 2,500 employees work in more than 58 countries and deliver more than 10,000 turbochargers each year. “Anything big that needs to move quickly, we support it,” said CISO Milos Pesic.

Accelleron was using a common email security configuration: combining the native tools provided by the Microsoft 365 email platform with a traditional secure email gateway (SEG). This approach handled basic threats but was less successful at blocking advanced attacks such as spear phishing, which were targeting Accelleron employees and executives. These advanced credential phishing attacks required manual remediation, burdening Pesic’s security staff.

“We had to engage different departments to resolve incidents, and it took hours. For example, we had one attack in which 59 people clicked on malicious links in a phishing message, and it took all of us a day and a half to sort everything out,” notes Pesic.

“If you don’t keep up with the technology attackers use, you’re going to get swamped. Abnormal detected 3,500% more threats than our legacy solution in the first 90 days and gives us the protection and automation we need to pursue our growth strategy with confidence.”
—Milos Pesic, CISO

Pesic wanted an API-based solution for a variety of reasons. “You don't need to have anything on-prem. Everything is based in the cloud. You have full access to it from anywhere in the world, so you can always see what’s going on with your environment. API-based solutions are, ideally, seamless to integrate and don’t create risk. Utilising tools like that gives you the assurance that your security perimeter is really strong.”

Pesic also wanted a solution that leverages AI and machine learning (ML) to enable time-saving automation. The goal was to shorten response times and free security team members from their ongoing manual remediation tasks so they could focus on other security initiatives.

“Traditional legacy email security solutions weren’t cutting it for us. We didn’t want a cumbersome solution that required constant management. We wanted AI, ML, and automation so that we could be proactive, secure, and flexible. Abnormal has helped us bring our security to the next level. It’s easy to use, and it’s saving us time and money, so we can invest in even more security improvements and focus on scaling up.”
—Milos Pesic, CISO

Abnormal’s API architecture and AI/ML capabilities met Pesic’s criteria, and its simplicity and efficacy stood out among the solutions he evaluated. “The proof of concept was one of the easiest ever: no impact to the infrastructure or the network, and the best and fastest results. Since we started using Abnormal, no threats are getting through.”

Abnormal’s ability to automate email security operations has allowed Pesic to move the two full-time employees who were handling manual remediation to new projects. “What used to take four or five hours now takes two or three minutes,” Pesic said.

The security team also uses Abnormal’s dashboard to generate customised reports for executives in each department. And Abnormal’s Email Productivity solution has been well-received internally for its ability to filter graymail out of the primary inbox so employees and executives alike can focus on higher-priority communications.

Besides helping Accelleron achieve its near-term security goals, Abnormal has proven to be a responsive partner, which gives Pesic greater confidence in his company’s ability to handle new threats and overcome future challenges as they arise.

“Cybersecurity is always evolving, so we need to collaborate with our vendors. Abnormal has helped us significantly by acknowledging our ideas and constantly being proactive to help us achieve what we want to do. That's the perfect relationship that you want to have with a security vendor,” Pesic said.