At the Autonomous University of Yucatán (UADY), technology has long been central to supporting academic excellence.
As the university expanded to serve more than 20,000 students across five campuses, its IT team faced increasing pressure on an aging cybersecurity infrastructure. Manual patching, limited firmware support, and rising costs made it harder to defend against evolving threats — and even harder to scale protection efficiently.
For Wilbert Pérez Segura, Head of Computer Security at UADY, the challenge was clear.
“Our existing perimeter security solution had become outdated,” he said. “We were struggling to defend against the rapidly evolving threat landscape.”
The IT department was caught in a cycle of reactive maintenance, spending more time fighting fires than driving innovation. Even without a major disruption, the risk of relying on obsolete systems created growing unease across the university. Pérez and his team knew they needed to modernize — not just to stop attacks, but to restore confidence in their infrastructure.
From complexity to control
UADY’s goal went beyond replacing outdated tools. It was about regaining control, reducing risk, and giving the IT team the freedom to focus on what mattered most.
After evaluating several vendors, the university chose Sophos as its cybersecurity partner — a decision grounded as much in trust as in technology.
“Sophos products have been fundamental in strengthening our cybersecurity and technology management capabilities at [UADY],” Pérez said.
The modernization journey began with Sophos Firewall, which delivered the visibility and efficiency they had long been missing.
“With the implementation of Sophos Firewall in our university’s IT infrastructure, we managed to modernize our cybersecurity environment, obtaining a more robust and efficient solution at a significantly lower cost compared to our previous technology,” Pérez said.
For the first time in years, UADY’s IT team could clearly see what was happening across their network — and act quickly without adding complexity or expense.
Unified management, simplified security
Next, the university deployed Sophos Central, giving the IT team a unified, cloud-based platform to manage every layer of security — from endpoints and access points to switches and phishing defenses.
“The integration of our Sophos access points and switches into the Sophos Central platform has enabled centralized management, facilitating early failure detection and reducing response times to incidents in the university’s wireless network,” Pérez said.
This integration transformed daily operations. The team shifted from reactive troubleshooting to proactive management, saving valuable time while improving resilience.
With Sophos Endpoint, they achieved consistent, lightweight protection across all devices — even older workstations. And with Sophos Phish Threat, they fostered a culture of awareness through interactive simulations that helped staff recognize and resist phishing attempts.
Today, UADY operates on a stronger cybersecurity foundation — one that aligns security operations with the university’s broader academic mission.
Legacy systems or patchwork defenses are no longer a burden on the IT team. Instead, they manage a modern, unified infrastructure that evolves alongside emerging threats.
For Pérez, the change is both technical and cultural.
“With Sophos, we have built a secure, efficient, and resilient infrastructure — one that supports our mission and protects our future,” he said.
Because Sophos’ AI-native, cloud-managed architecture continuously learns and adapts to new threats, UADY gained protection that evolves as fast as the risks it faces.
See how the Autonomous University of Yucatán (UADY) strengthened its defenses and restored confidence in its digital future with Sophos. Read the full case study
Download the case study
