Case Study: Murrumbidgee Irrigation protects mission-critical SCADA and streamlines security management with Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform

Protecting Mission-Critical SCADA Systems Securely and Efficiently

Murrumbidgee Irrigation, one of Australia’s largest private irrigation companies serving about 2,500 customers across 660,000 hectares, needed to protect mission‑critical SCADA systems after penetration testing exposed security gaps and its legacy security reached end‑of‑life. The organization also struggled with unstable VPN access and time‑consuming firewall management that risked disruption to water delivery and regional agriculture.

Murrumbidgee deployed the Palo Alto Networks Next‑Generation Security Platform—four PA‑850 firewalls, an M‑100 management appliance, Panorama, GlobalProtect and subscriptions including Threat Prevention, PAN‑DB URL Filtering, WildFire and Traps—supported by Palo Alto consulting, training and managed services from Idea 11. The outcome was a centralized, proactive security posture: faster VPN troubleshooting, granular user/app policies, streamlined management and reporting, stronger SCADA and endpoint protection, and a move from reactive to preventative security.

Murrumbidgee Irrigation

Andrew Pasquet

ICT Coordinator