Panasonic Digital Co., Ltd. (formerly Panasonic Information Systems Co., Ltd.)

Panasonic Information Systems Co., Ltd. (now known as Panasonic Digital Co., Ltd.) is the Panasonic Group’s IT operations company that supports the implementation and execution of IT strategies, underpinning the businesses of each group across various fields including retail, distribution, and manufacturing. The company also leverages its experience and expertise to provide a wide range of solutions to external customers, including data analysis, IT infrastructure, and security. In recent years, realizing Panasonic Transformation (PX), a key strategy for the Panasonic Group, has become one of the company’s most important initiatives.

In the Panasonic Group, cybersecurity is positioned as one of the most important issues for PX, with Panasonic Information Systems leading its implementation. In particular, with a rapid increase in remote work since 2020, the company has shifted from traditional perimeter-based protection to a Zero Trust approach, and have been actively promoting the use of cutting-edge technologies.

The cyber incident the company experienced in 2021 was a significant turning point for the group. A review of its security strategy and implementation framework was conducted, leading to the adoption of more comprehensive measures focused around cyber hygiene.

“Cyber hygiene, the systematic maintenance of a vulnerability-free state, is a key initiative in strengthening security measures,” said Noritaka Tsukamoto, Chief, Infrastructure Solution Division, Platform Services Business Division, Infrastructure Standard Services Department, Cloud Platform Team, Panasonic Information Systems Co., Ltd. Following the unauthorized access the company experienced in 2021, controlling communication between servers within the company intranet became a major challenge. Traditional perimeter-based defenses become ineffective once a threat infiltrates an internal network, with no way to prevent lateral movement between servers,” he explained.

Tsukamoto initially considered implementing hardware-based firewall devices. However, he concluded that this would be impractical due to the high cost of introducing these devices, in addition to the excessive lead time for procuring and building them. He wanted to manage communication control by implementing the same solutions across not only the on-premises environment, but also for the major cloud environments increasingly being adopted within the group.

Accordingly, this led to a focus on software-based firewall solutions. Tsukamoto believed this method would make implementing visualization and control of communications on a per-server basis easier, in a way that overlays the existing network without changing it, thereby enabling the construction of the ideal microsegmentation.

Panasonic Information Systems decided to implement microsegmentation. While considering solutions, Tsukamoto began to notice that Akamai Guardicore Segmentation (AGS) was a fit for the company’s needs.

He recalls that two key selection criteria of “control method” and “support” emerged when he conducted detailed PoCs encompassing other technologies and products: “Solutions using a firewall built into the operating system would also require other software to be installed, and the impact of this on our applications would have to be verified. Adding a dedicated agent such as AGS that includes firewall functionalities has the advantage of having less impact on our applications and being easier to adapt to future changes,” recalled Tsukamoto.

Furthermore, while overseas products often only offer support in English, Akamai’s Japanese-language support offering was also a key factor in the adoption. For Panasonic Information Systems Co., Ltd., which had concerns about the potential inability of other services to promptly deal with inquiries for each group in the company, having this reliable operational framework in place was a crucial element.

Panasonic Information Systems’ adoption of AGS has enabled microsegmentation across a variety of server environments. While hardware implementation would take months of procurement lead time for each location, AGS is highly valued for its ability to be deployed in just one week. One of the key effects of this implementation is that it has made it possible for cloud-based servers to be managed and protected under the same architecture.

After implementing AGS, it is now possible to visualize even the most granular of application communications, which previously had been difficult to gain insight into. According to Tsukamoto, the ideal outcome of leveraging AGS’ visualization capabilities would be enabling granular management at a process level by working with the personnel in charge of applications to confirm the necessary communications.

Panasonic Information Systems has established a new framework to assist with deploying the microsegmentation implementation project in users’ departments. The company also adopted a method of applying customized allowlists to servers operating in each department while working closely with on-site personnel. “We wanted to raise the level of security across the entire group by optimizing policies for each server and implementing highly granular segmentation. However, achieving this level of granularity for each server requires our operations to be streamlined. Akamai excels at not only technology, but also operational expertise. From the outset, they offered specific methods for improving our operational efficiency, and we appreciate their hands-on guidance when needed. For example, the policies for each server span hundreds of lines of text, so learning how to apply them efficiently and quickly via APIs was a major achievement,” said Tsukamoto.

Tsukamoto is also exploring streamlining policy management with AGS by integrating it with the company’s internal configuration management database. Panasonic Information Systems’ proactive initiatives like this will surely be worth keeping an eye on going forward.

By introducing AGS, Panasonic Information Systems is steadily pushing forward its goal of strengthening cyber hygiene across the entire Panasonic Group. The company is adopting microsegmentation — which would have been difficult to achieve using their previous technologies and devices — and is rolling it out as needed, while keeping costs and lead times low.

In particular, the company has found Akamai’s ongoing support indispensable in implementing granular microsegmentation.

“Automation and generative AI are also hot topics for us. AGS also includes features that support automation using APIs and AI functionality, which we certainly intend to make use of. We hope that Akamai will continue to focus on expanding these features that enhance operational efficiency and set out alongside us as a partner in supporting security enhancements in the Panasonic Group,” said Tsukamoto.

Panasonic Information Systems will continue to build a high-quality operational framework for the entire group and aims to put in place even more comprehensive security countermeasures, including expanding these out to assets that are security risks, etc. AGS is fulfilling its role as the foundation that supports enhancing the security of the Panasonic Group.

Note: This case study is based on an interview conducted in June, 2025. At the time of the interview, the company's name was Panasonic Information Systems Co., Ltd., but it was changed to Panasonic Digital Co., Ltd. on April 1, 2026.