Apex Datacom Neutralizes 200K Threats in 30 Days With Lumen Defender℠ Plus

For over two decades, Apex Datacom has engineered custom software solutions for enterprises that rely on real-time communications. From voice and video platforms to cloud-native applications, Apex operates at the intersection of performance, reliability and speed.

“Everything we do is about speed,” said Glen Scotzin, COO and CTO of Apex Datacom. “In a software-defined world accelerated by AI, time to market is time to value.”

But as Apex scaled their infrastructure to support mission-critical applications, the threat landscape evolved. The very infrastructure powering their innovation became a target for cyberattacks—forcing Apex to confront a growing tension between velocity and vulnerability.

Why Cloud-first Infrastructure Demands Smart Security

Apex Datacom began experiencing a surge in brute-force credential attacks targeting their Lumen edge environments. With powerful 10GbE circuits and rich data environments, Apex’s infrastructure attracted malicious actors seeking access to sensitive customer data and proprietary applications.

“These are very attractive for hackers,” Scotzin explained. “It’s not only about protecting our intellectual property—it’s about preventing reputational damage and business disruption.”

Traditional security models couldn’t keep pace. Standing up infrastructure, configuring firewalls and managing threat intelligence demanded time and expertise—resources better spent building customer-facing solutions.

Apex needed a security solution that could match their velocity. One that didn’t require deep configuration, specialized training or weeks of tuning. One that could deliver value on day one.

Zero-touch Security with Real-time Impact

Apex turned to Lumen Defender℠ Plus for a fundamentally different approach to cybersecurity. Rather than waiting for threats to reach the front door, Defender Plus intercepts malicious traffic at the network edge—leveraging the Lumen globally ranked IP backbone and Black Lotus Labs^®, the threat research and operations arm of Lumen.

“Lumen has captured a lightning-in-a-bottle moment,” Scotzin said. “It’s not just a firewall—it’s like living in a gated community with security forces keeping bad guys far away from your house. That’s the kind of protection we needed.”

Defender Plus is built on the same U.S. ultra-low-loss fiber backbone powering AI workloads for hyperscale leaders—giving Apex enterprise-grade protection from day one.

“Defender Plus is what I would call a zero-delay configuration, zero-touch configuration and zero-day time-to-value proposition,” Scotzin said. “You turn it on and you’re already seeing threats blocked without any IT involvement.”

The deployment was immediate and impactful. Within 30 days, Defender Plus blocked over 200,000 threats across two circuits. “And that’s all for about 100 bucks a circuit*,” Scotzin emphasized. “That’s just phenomenal value.”

Defender Plus draws its strength from deep integration with Lumen global network visibility and advanced threat intelligence. By operating at the edge of the #1 peered global network^¹, Defender Plus gives Apex a proactive defense posture from day one.

Scotzin credits this unmatched network visibility as a key differentiator: “Lumen sees farther than anyone else,” he said. “And when you combine that reach with the expertise of Black Lotus Labs, you get best-in-class threat intelligence that powers Defender’s real-time protection.”

Integrated infrastructure that multiplies impact

Defender Plus marked the beginning of a layered security strategy powered by Lumen. Apex expanded their approach to include:

• Lumen Defender Plus: A zero-touch, pre-firewall security platform powered by Black Lotus Labs threat intelligence
• Lumen Edge Cloud Solutions: Including Edge Bare Metal and Network-as-a-Service (NaaS)
• Lumen^® SASE with Fortinet^® and Lumen^® DDoS Mitigation: For comprehensive network security

The impact of this strategic composition of AI-era infrastructure was clear: brute-force attacks dropped dramatically, remediation workloads decreased and developers shifted their focus from defense to innovation.

“Defender helps corporate America understand that the time to protect the business is now, not next year,” he said. “It creates a way for us to talk with the C-suite about the state of security.”

$200 investment.* 200,000 neutralized threats. Zero configuration required

With security streamlined, Apex focused on building new solutions—like Bandwidth IQ, a network orchestration and monitoring platform that integrates directly with Lumen APIs like the NaaS portfolio. The platform provides real-time visibility into network health, enabling adaptive policies and automated remediation—a critical step toward AI-driven operations.

“We’re giving customers the ability to have eyes-on-glass capability to see network health,” Scotzin explained. “Then tying that into orchestration to enable resilience and scalability.”

Now, Apex is expanding into voice AI for contact centers—leveraging Lumen low- latency infrastructure and an SIP gateway footprint to deliver high-definition audio that feeds clean, attributed data into AI models. The goal: enhance sentiment analysis and coaching capabilities at scale.

“Lumen is a key stakeholder in how we do that,” Scotzin emphasized. “They provide the building blocks, the infrastructure and the relationships that allow us to deliver mission-critical applications at scale.”

The backbone of Apex’s innovation roadmap

From deep fiber investments to edge infrastructure and hyperscaler partnerships, Lumen provides the foundation for Apex to scale securely and innovate rapidly.

“We believe Lumen is the backbone of the AI economy,” Scotzin said. “Their footprint, capacity and partnerships make them uniquely positioned to support the next wave of transformation.”

Now, with Defender Plus in place and Lumen infrastructure behind them, Apex isn’t just protecting what they’ve built—they’re building what’s next. Whether it’s network orchestration, voice AI or real-time analytics, they’re moving fast and staying ahead.

As Scotzin put it: “For today’s businesses, the opportunity is not simply digital transformation—it’s creative capitalization. Your ceiling is really your imagination. What can you build with Lumen?”

To learn more about Apex Datacom’s transformation, read the full customer success story.

Visit our customer story library to learn how organizations in virtually every industry are achieving their business objectives.

*Lumen Defender Plus rate is per hour, per circuit of 100Mbps to 1Gbps, available for Lumen Internet On-Demand and requires access to a NaaS-enabled port. A $50 NRC will apply if purchased separate from internet. The stated rate is the average always-on monthly cost and excludes taxes and fees. Additional terms and conditions apply.

¹Center for Applied Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA), AS Rank, January 2025.

Current Lumen customer compensated for their endorsement.

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