Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems (SEWS) has been trialing Anywhere+ as it looks to improve Web security for its 300 remote workers. Its previous security solution for roaming workers had not been able to prevent staff accessing the Internet directly or violating corporate Web use policy.
“Prior to Anywhere+, we used end point solutions to ensure a secure connection along with desktop anti-virus to provide malware protection for roaming employees,” says the company’s network administrator, Paul Jennings.
“However, this didn’t allow users to safely surf the Internet from anywhere. For example, in order for employees to access an Internet hotspot while traveling, we’d have to allow an exception - basically punch a hole in our security armor - to enable them to access the Internet directly. As a result, employees could alter proxy server settings in the browser and surf the web without any filtering.
“It was quite evident that employees working outside the office were disabling security settings in order to get an Internet connection at hotspots and as a result, they were working without a security net. I would then see alerts from our desktop anti-virus notifying me that viruses had been detected when they visited malware-ridden websites.”
SEWS also had an issue with the way employees were using their laptops for personal use, in a way that violated the company’s corporate Internet usage policy.
“Some people will access webmail on corporate laptops while they are out of the office, which leaves them vulnerable to picking up malware,” says Jennings.
“With Anywhere+ I can set one global policy and ensure that employees cannot access webmail, regardless of whether they are working in the office or on the road.”
According to Jennings, the trial has already identified many of the benefits of Anywhere+.
“In addition to extending our corporate security and Internet use policies to roaming workers, Anywhere+ makes our remote access security solution complete because it allows us to extend and enforce our Web use policy and provide protection against malware for all our roaming workers.
It also improves the performance of remote connections because there is no backhauling of traffic to a central Internet gateway.”
Founded in 1999, ScanSafe is the leading global provider of Web Security-as-a-Service, ensuring a safe and productive Internet environment for businesses. ScanSafe solutions keep viruses and spyware off corporate networks and allow businesses to control and secure the use of the Web and instant messaging. As a fully managed service, ScanSafe's solutions require no hardware, upfront capital costs or maintenance and provide unparalleled real-time threat protection.