When you help businesses manage billions in insurance risk, you learn to expect the unexpected. For Everywhen, one of the UK’s largest insurance intermediaries, that includes the risk of cyberattacks.
With 4,500 employees across more than 100 offices, the company protects clients from loss every day — and now, it’s doing the same for itself.
“Cybersecurity isn’t just about technology — it’s about understanding the business and aligning security strategies,” said Everywhen CISO Justyna Larkowska.
For Larkowska and her team, the mission was clear: Stop lateral movement. Defend against ransomware. Build cyber resilience. And do it all with a small security team.
The challenge: growing threats, limited resources, and the need for resilience
With a lean cybersecurity team and limited internal resources, the organization needed a solution to reduce lateral movement risks and enhance cyber resilience. Audit findings and the increasing frequency of ransomware incidents in the media underscored the urgency.
“I knew we needed microsegmentation to stop lateral movement," Larkowska said. Illumio came highly recommended by colleagues in other industries.
“We’re a small team covering everything from operations to governance,” she added. “We needed assistance.”
That support came from BT, Everywhen’s technology partner.
Everywhen ran a competitive evaluation. Several vendors were in the mix. What tipped the scale for Illumio?
“We chose Illumio because it was intuitive, the visibility maps were powerful, and the support from both Illumio and BT was excellent,” Larkowska said.
The solution: from zero visibility to full control — fast
Everywhen started by deploying Illumio in visibility mode and enforcement mode on critical business applications. Results came sooner than expected.
“Once we were in visibility mode, we were already learning things we hadn’t seen before,” Larkowska said. “It changed how we understood traffic patterns.”
Live application maps helped Everywhen tighten communication between systems. BT’s managed service team provided hands-on expertise and support.
By three months: full visibility. By six months: enforcement across all critical apps — on time and on budget.
The impact: greater resilience and peace of mind
Today, Illumio is central to Everywhen’s Zero Trust and cyber resilience strategy.
“It’s not just about stopping threats — it’s about making sure we can recover quickly if something happens,” Larkowska said.
With Illumio in place and BT managing day-to-day operations, Everywhen’s small security team stays focused on strategy.
“We couldn’t have done this without BT,” she said. “And Illumio gives us peace of mind.”
BT: from vendor to partner
For Larkowska, choosing a managed service partner came down to expertise and trust. BT delivered both.
From planning through deployment and enforcement, BT became an extension of Everywhen’s team — translating strategy into action, providing 24/7 support, and ensuring an on-time, on-budget rollout.
Larkowska praised BT for being proactive, knowledgeable, and always available to help us navigate challenges — both technical and organizational. Today, BT continues to deliver value through ongoing managed services that monitor, maintain, and optimize Everywhen’s Illumio deployment.
What’s next: expanding protection
Next on the roadmap: extending segmentation beyond critical apps to cover Everywhen’s broader core environment.
“It’s a journey,” Larkowska said. “But with the right tools and the right partners, we’re ready to keep improving.”
Results and benefits
Fast time to value. Achieved visibility into application traffic within just three months, setting the stage for enforcement.
On-time, on-budget delivery. Successfully enforced segmentation policies in just six months — without a single major escalation.
Stop lateral movement. Limited the spread of threats like ransomware by creating strong segmentation around key systems.
Cyber resilience. Gained the visibility and control needed to respond faster and contain incidents — supporting Everywhen’s goal of proactive cyber resilience.
