Following its migration to Microsoft 365, the organisation began seeing increasingly sophisticated phishing attempts, including impersonation attacks designed to appear as though they had come from senior leaders within the business.

To strengthen protection against phishing, credential theft and account compromise, The Club Company deployed Abnormal Security with support from Peritus Cloud Security.

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The Challenge

Email attacks have become increasingly difficult to identify, with cyber criminalsusing social engineering and impersonation techniques to target employees.

For The ClubCompany, the move to Microsoft 365 reinforced the need for stronger protection as the IT team began seeing convincing phishing emails impersonating senior leaders.

With a workforce focused on hospitality, leisure and customer service, the organisation needed protection that did not rely on users spotting every threat themselves.

As Sam Drake,IT Services Manager at The Club Company, put it: "Our people are experts in hospitality and customer service. They're not cybersecurity specialists, and they shouldn't need to be."

The Club Company needed a solution that could identify and stop sophisticated attacks before they impacted the business, without creating additional burden for the IT team.

Why Abnormal Security?

For Sam Drake, IT Services Manager at The Club Company, Abnormal Security was already a proven solution.

Having used the platform previously, he had already seen how effective it could be at preventing financially motivated attacks.

That experiencewas decisive. As he explained, "At a previous organisation, Abnormal elped prevent a fraudulent payment of around £1.5 million. That showed meexactly what the platform was capable of."

Unlike traditional email security solutions, Abnormal uses behavioural AI to learn normal communication patterns and identify unusual activity that may indicate phishing, business email compromise or account takeover attempts.

For The Club Company, that combination of strong protection and minimal administrative overhead made the decision straightforward.

"It's very much a set-and-forget solution. Once it's in place, it just gets on with protecting the business."

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Rapid Deployment

Deployment was completed in minutes through direct integration with Microsoft 365.

Sam described the setup simply: "Click approve with an admin account and it's done."

The platform was operational almost immediately, with no lengthy implementation project, complex configuration or disruption to users.

He also highlighted Peritus' role in keeping the process straightforward.

In his words,"Peritus were straightforward, knowledgeable and easy to deal with. The whole process was simple from start to finish."

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Stopping a Supply Chain Attack Before ItBecame a Breach

One of the clearest demonstrations of Abnormal Security's value came during a supply chain compromise involving a trusted third-party supplier.

The supplier's account had been compromised, allowing attackers to send malicious emails that appeared entirely legitimate.

As a result, the emails reached users' inboxes and ten employees entered their credentials.

Despite this, Abnormal detected suspicious behaviour immediately and automatically responded.

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The platform:

• Revoked active user     sessions
• Disabled compromised     accounts
• Identified impossible     travel activity
• Prevented account     takeover attempts

The incident was contained before attackers could establish a foothold within the environment.

"The email got through because it came from a trusted supplier's account that had been compromised. People interacted with it, but Abnormal identified what was happening and prevented it from turning into a security incident."

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Sam Drake, IT Services Manager, The Club Company

The event highlighted the importance of having protection that continues working even when a malicious email reaches a user's inbox.

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Delivering Measurable Outcomes

Since deployment, Abnormal Security has significantly reduced email-related risk across the organisation.

Over a 90-day period, the platform prevented:

• More than 1,600 email attacks
• Over 1,000 credential pohishing attempts

More recently, in a 30-day period, the platform stopped approximately 302 additional threats.

For the IT team, this has reduced the need for manual intervention and increased confidence that users are protected if suspicious messages reach the inbox.

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Customer Perspective

For Sam, the biggest benefit is peace of mind.

"It gives us confidence that there's another layer of protection there and that our users are being protected."

When asked whether he would recommend Abnormal Security, the answer was immediate.

"Absolutely."

His reasons are simple:

• Easy deployment
• Strong protection against modern phishing attacks
• Minimal ongoing administration
• Excellent support
• Proven results

Expert Perspective

Tim Barrow,Managing Director at Peritus Cloud Security, commented:

"Email continues to be one of the most effective attack vectors used by cybercriminals, and the sophistication of today's phishing attacks means organisations can no longer rely solely on users identifying malicious emails.

What stands out about The Club Company's experience is the combination of strong security outcomes and operational simplicity. More than 1,600 attacks were stopped in just 90 days, yet the solution was deployed in minutes and requires very little day-to-day management.

For organisations looking to strengthen their Microsoft 365 security posture, that balance between protection and simplicity is incredibly important."

About Peritus Cloud Security

Peritus Cloud Security helps organisations strengthen their cyber resilience through specialist cybersecurity solutions, expert guidance and trusted vendor partnerships.

Working with leading security vendors such as Abnormal Security, Peritus helps organisations reduce risk, improve protection and simplify cybersecurity management.

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