How Golf Club St. Leon-Rot Gains Visibility and Strengthens IT Security

TL;DR

Golf Club St. Leon-Rot, one of Germany's most prestigious golf clubs, runs its IT environment with a three-person team. XM Cyber uncovered Active Directory gaps and unpatched attack paths on first deployment, delivered quick fixes that immediately strengthened the club's security posture, and gave the team a structured remediation roadmap with measurable progress after each round.

The Challenge

Golf Club St. Leon-Rot is one of the most well-known golf clubs in Germany. For Johannes Hofmann, the club’s IT Manager, managing IT security was only one part of a much broader role. Hofmann’s team, consisting of just three people, believed they had a good handle on their environment – until they tried XM Cyber;

“I always thought that because our environment is small, I knew everything that was going on. Then we used XM Cyber, and it uncovered issues that weren’t even on my radar. They were obvious once I saw them, but I had no idea before."

Johannes Hofmann, IT Manager, Golf Club St. Leon-Rot 

This was a true eye-opener and propelled them to challenge their previously held ideas about their security posture. The club realized they needed better visibility and a structured approach to address critical risks – especially around Active Directory, which XM Cyber revealed was poorly protected.

The Solution

The decision to adopt XM Cyber came through a recommendation, and it quickly proved its value. “We weren’t particularly looking for a solution,” Hofmann recalled. “Like many teams, we felt our existing vulnerability management and penetration testing were sufficient.” However, a fellow CISO insisted we check it out, highlighting how its lateral movement simulation could uncover blind spots our traditional tools were missing. “He saw that it’s a very good product and it could help us a lot, so then we gave it a try.” That initial trial immediately uncovered critical, unpatched attack paths that would have been impossible to find through siloed scans, quickly turning a casual recommendation into a core part of our security strategy.

XM Cyber’s customer success team provided hands-on guidance throughout the deployment. “The deployment was very good. We had lots of help from XM Cyber with our customer success manager,” Hofmann said.

“We made a step-by-step plan, rolled out the XM Cyber collectors, and tackled each task in order. Everything worked smoothly, and we’re still following that roadmap.”

Johannes Hofmann, IT Manager, Golf Club St. Leon-Rot 

Benefits & Outcomes

XM Cyber delivered immediate results for the club:

• Critical visibility: “It was surprising to see that if we were breached, the whole environment would be at risk because our Active Directory wasn’t well protected. That was the biggest eye-opener for me.”
• Quick security wins: “We implemented quick fixes that were easy to apply and immediately made us feel more secure.”
• Peace of mind: “The biggest benefit is confidence. I sleep better knowing the problems are no longer hidden.”
• A clear path forward: “Now we’re focusing on longer-term processes. Active Directory tiering is our biggest priority to establish a solid security baseline.”

Key Takeaways

“I see it as a game changer for IT security, and I am very convinced of XM Cyber as a solution.”

Johannes Hofmann, IT Manager, Golf Club St. Leon-Rot 

• On first deployment, XM Cyber revealed Active Directory gaps and unpatched attack paths that the three-person IT team had no way to see with existing tools.
• Quick fixes delivered immediate security improvements, and the team now follows a structured roadmap with Active Directory tiering as the top priority.
• XM Cyber’s customer success team guided the deployment step by step, and the club continues to follow that original plan.