Sigma is a food and beverage company.
We have presence in 17 countries.
We manufacture the food and beverage,
distribute, and sell the products.
Manufacturing sector is one of the top
sectors that is a target by ransomware.
So it's something important to consider
in order that how you can prevent it,
in order that doesn't generate
a lot of impact in your business.
When you see the full picture
of the processes in the manufacturing
sector, if you stop a little bit
in a specific process, everything change.
To guarantee the operation
and to guarantee the continuity of the
business is, I think, the most important.
Akamai was very, very, very simple.
It was very graphical,
and anyone can do it.
So that was, I think, one of the main
points that in that way we choose Akamai.
Something that we were scared about
is to how we understand
all the traffic flows.
Microsegmentation is something that help
us a lot in order to simplify
the protection of the different services
for trying to complement the
Zero Trust strategy that we have defined.
So have applications that can
give you the security that is the main
goal, but at the end of the day,
give you other values is
very significant and is very relevant.
It's an incredible journey
in trying to establish,
implement, and guarantee that the business
continues manufacturing the products
that we sell around the world.
Built for freshness, powered by continuity
Sigma Alimentos, a multinational food and beverage manufacturer, operates approximately 64 plants and 189 distribution centers in 17 countries, serving more than 500,000 retailers. Its products are staples on supermarket shelves in the Americas, Western Europe, and the Caribbean. For a business built on freshness, continuity is critical. So when a ransomware attack hit a critical application, Sigma turned to Akamai Guardicore Segmentation for the security and visibility to keep operations running.
Protecting operations in a volatile threat landscape
The manufacturing sector is a top ransomware target, and Sigma faced the same vulnerabilities as its peers: legacy systems, complex operations, and high dependency on continuous production. When its operations in one country were impacted by a ransomware attack, it was a wake-up call. “We took this very seriously. It’s important to guarantee business continuity and nonstop operations so our customers can access the high-quality products they’ve come to expect from us. We can’t afford to damage our reputation,” explained José Carlos Herrera, Sigma’s CISO for Europe.
Sigma set out to find a solution that could not only help defend against ransomware but also provide the visibility and agility to adapt quickly to new threats — without slowing production.
Akamai Guardicore Segmentation provides easy visibility and deployment
When evaluating solutions, clarity and usability were top priorities. “We wanted easy-to-access visibility,” said Herrera. “Akamai Guardicore Segmentation provides rich visuals that anyone can use.”
The solution’s ability to display application flows and network communications in an intuitive visual map meant that teams could quickly understand and secure traffic without sifting through raw data. This was key for collaboration across IT, operations, and application owners.
Another deciding factor: ease of deployment. “We easily deployed 201 agents for workload enforcement and visibility,” continued Herrera. “Once the solution was in place, we configured it for our environment and different application needs.”
Microsegmentation as the foundation of Zero Trust
Microsegmentation became a cornerstone of Sigma’s evolving Zero Trust strategy. Before Akamai Guardicore Segmentation, Sigma’s network traffic was open and chaotic. “Anyone could communicate with everything,” Herrera recalled. “With Akamai, we gained the visibility to understand all the traffic flows.”
Just as important, Akamai Guardicore Segmentation allowed the company to isolate workloads, restrict unknown communications, and protect critical services without halting operations.
Realizing measurable improvements in security and confidence
The value went beyond segmentation. “If you don’t understand how your application works, how can you protect it?” Herrera pointed out. “The visibility that Akamai provides translates to a lot of value because the people responsible for our applications know how they are working and have the control they need.”
That visibility has directly improved operational resilience. “I sleep better and so does my team,” said Herrera. “We are not experts when it comes to web applications. But we can protect them with Akamai Guardicore Segmentation.”
Adding power with Akamai Hunt and Akamai Guardicore Segmentation deception service
Sigma expanded its security capabilities with Akamai Hunt and the Akamai Guardicore Segmentation deception service. Combined, the managed threat hunting service and deception technologies help detect and mitigate advanced threats within Sigma’s network environment.
“We didn’t initially plan to use the deception service,” said Herrera. “But once we understood how it could strengthen breach detection and response, it became a valuable part of our approach.”
The Hunt service further amplified protection by proactively identifying emerging threats using data from Akamai Guardicore Segmentation combined with Akamai’s global threat intelligence. “It helps tremendously because it would be difficult to glean some of these insights otherwise,” noted Herrera.
Extending protection across the enterprise
Looking ahead, Sigma plans to expand Akamai Guardicore Segmentation to endpoint protection and to strengthen cybersecurity in its operational technology environments. “We can’t just stop our operations,” Herrera explained. “Microsegmentation is a good, efficient way to protect services without halting them.”
For Herrera, the partnership with Akamai is strategic. “We’re always thinking about how to extract the most value possible from Akamai’s platform,” he concluded.
About Sigma
Sigma is a leading multinational food company operating in 17 countries grouped in 4 regions: Mexico, Europe, the United States., and Latin America. With 64 plants and 189 distribution centers, the company produces, commercializes, and distributes quality branded foods, including packaged meats, cheese, yogurts, and other refrigerated and frozen foods. Sigma’s diversified portfolio includes more than 100 brands in different categories and market segments such as: FUD, Campofrio, Bar-S, San Rafael, Aoste, La Villita, Fiorucci, Chimex, Navidul, and Justin Bridou y Sosua, among others.
About Akamai
Akamai is the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business online. Our market-leading security solutions, superior threat intelligence, and global operations team provide defense in depth to safeguard enterprise data and applications everywhere. Akamai’s full-stack cloud computing solutions deliver performance and affordability on the world’s most distributed platform. Global enterprises trust Akamai to provide the industry-leading reliability, scale, and expertise they need to grow their business with confidence. Learn more at akamai.com and akamai.com/blog, or follow Akamai Technologies on X and LinkedIn.
