HumanKind: Building Strategic IT Security to Support Community Impact 

The Challenge

For 120 years, HumanKind has been changing lives across Virginia through a diverse range of essential community services. From foster care placement and Early Head Start childcare for single parents to financial education and loans for those with damaged credit, HumanKind reaches those who need support most. 

Operating throughout Virginia with six physical offices and a primarily remote workforce of 180 employees, HumanKind’s mission demands a secure digital foundation. As the organization continued to grow and expand its services, leadership made the strategic decision to establish an in-house IT department and bring on an experienced IT manager: Don Schimming. 

Visibility gaps and false positives drain resources 

With approximately 180 Windows laptops and 140 mobile devices distributed throughout the state, HumanKind’s previous security solution wasn’t providing the protection or peace of mind the organization needed. 

“Sophos antivirus lacked visibility and triggered numerous false positives, which hurt our confidence in the product,” said Don. “Chasing the false positives also consumed a lot of time and resources from myself and the team.” 

The impact was significant for the lean IT team of three. False positives consumed an hour of the team’s time daily — around five hours per week. Investigating these also meant disrupting employee workdays, too. 

“Sometimes we’d need to log in and interrupt the user to investigate what was going on,” said Don. “Other times, we’d have to have them show us exactly what they were doing so that we could try to duplicate the issue.” 

With employees spread across Virginia and many working remotely, Don knew he needed a more comprehensive security approach that could protect endpoints regardless of location, while freeing his team to focus on supporting HumanKind’s mission. 

The Solution

A multi-layered security approach 

After a thorough three-month evaluation process, Don chose ThreatDown’s Ultimate bundle with mobile protection, which delivers Endpoint Protection, Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR), Managed Detection & Response (MDR), Application Block, Vulnerability Assessment, Patch Management, and DNS Filtering capabilities.

Don’s confidence in ThreatDown, stemmed from both its technical capabilities and the company itself. “Having been in IT for a long time, [ThreatDown] was the company that anytime you weren’t sure if something was going on within a system, or if something odd was trying to happen, you would always install [ThreatDown] and run a scan to see if it could catch it, because you knew it was going to catch it,” said Don. 

The comprehensive nature of ThreatDown’s offering perfectly matched HumanKind’s multi-layered security needs. “What impressed me most about ThreatDown was how their unified platform addressed all our security requirements in one solution,” Don explained. “Each component directly aligned with a critical security layer we needed to implement. Having these integrated capabilities in a single platform was extremely valuable for an organization of our size and structure.” 

For Don, two high-value capabilities stood out: 

• MDR Services: “The MDR service was a strategic investment for our lean team. With limited resources focused on supporting our infrastructure and daily operations, having expert security analysts continuously monitoring our environment allows us to extend our capabilities without expanding headcount,” Don shared. 
• DNS Filtering: “ThreatDown DNS Filtering is essential for our security architecture. With a primarily remote workforce, this gives us robust protection that extends beyond our corporate firewall. ThreatDown’s DNS Filtering provides that critical layer of security regardless of where our staff is working,” explained Don. 

Robust protection with a unified platform 

ThreatDown immediately demonstrated its value by identifying issues that HumanKind’s previous solution had missed. The deployment revealed not only adware slowing down systems but also detected potentially suspicious network activities that required investigation.

The single unified dashboard has transformed how Don manages security. “The consolidated management interface provides complete visibility across our entire security landscape,” he said. “Having all security metrics and vulnerability indicators in one view gives me efficient oversight and lets me quickly see what needs attention without having to hunt through multiple systems.” 

The Results

24/7 expert monitoring transforms security operations 

With ThreatDown’s MDR team handling security monitoring, HumanKind effectively expanded their security capabilities without adding headcount. “The MDR team functions as a true extension of our security operations,” said Don. “Having professional security analysts monitoring our environment 24/7 provides tremendous reassurance. It ensures our environment remains protected at all times.” 

The quality of ThreatDown’s alerts has restored confidence that was missing with HumanKind’s previous solution. “ThreatDown’s MDR alerts deliver actionable intelligence we can trust,” Don explained. “When we receive an alert, we know it’s legitimate and requires attention. This level of confidence in our security alerts makes it so much easier for our team to prioritize their time.” 

For Don personally, one of the most significant benefits has been the time saved from after-hours work. “Before implementing ThreatDown, I spent five to ten hours weekly reviewing security logs outside business hours,” Don revealed. “The MDR team now handles that monitoring, which eliminated the constant after-hours vigilance and helped improve work-life balance.” 

A partnership built on trust 

Beyond the technology itself, Don values the strategic partnership he has gained. “ThreatDown has established themselves as a true security partner, not just a vendor,” Don said. “Their responsiveness and proactive approach to our security needs demonstrates their commitment to our success.” 

The expertise of both the MDR and support teams has impressed Don.

For an organization dedicated to supporting vulnerable populations throughout Virginia, having reliable security protection allows HumanKind to focus on its mission with confidence that their digital assets are protected. 

“Implementing ThreatDown has enabled a fundamental shift in our IT priorities. Our team can now focus on improving service delivery and new projects rather than troubleshooting security issues. This translates directly to better support for our clients and allows us to dedicate more time to strategic planning and innovation,” Don concluded. 

Häufig gestellte Fragen

How does ThreatDown MDR help a small IT team?

ThreatDown MDR gives HumanKind 24/7 monitoring by expert security analysts, so the team gains security capacity without adding headcount. Don Schimming no longer spends 5 to 10 hours a week reviewing security logs after hours.

How does ThreatDown protect a remote workforce?

ThreatDown DNS Filtering protects HumanKind’s mostly remote staff beyond the corporate firewall, no matter where they work. It covers about 180 Windows laptops and 140 mobile devices across Virginia.

What did ThreatDown find that the previous solution missed?

Right after deployment, ThreatDown found adware that was slowing down systems. It also flagged potentially suspicious network activity that HumanKind’s previous solution hadn’t caught.

How does ThreatDown support non-profit organizations?

For HumanKind, a Virginia non-profit serving vulnerable communities, ThreatDown lets the IT team spend its time on service delivery and strategic projects instead of troubleshooting security issues.