Security software cleans up library PCs

Hampshire Library Service has reduced IT support costs and tightened security by installing anti-tampering software on its public computer terminals

More than 300 public computer terminals across the county's 54 libraries have had the end-point security installed following an increase in call outs at Hampshire County Council's IT department to fix machines.

Using the SecureWave software, IT teams have cut the time spent travelling to libraries to reconfigure desktops and remove malware from the public terminals.

Visitors accessing the internet via the UK wide People's Network scheme were downloading software and changing desktop configurations, leading to a high number of support call outs and IT consultancy.

'We were regularly making between one and two visits every week to fix infected PCs at Hampshire libraries,' said Matthew Waite, IT consultant at Hampshire County Council.

This has led to the IT team travelling anything up to 35 miles to each library to fix just one or two PCs at a time.

'Judging by the rate of call outs prior to People's Network, our workload would have multiplied five fold, with hundreds of hours a month being spent driving out to remove malware from PCs and restore settings,' said Waite.

Using SecureWave's Sanctuary Application Control software Hampshire County Council's IT team have been able to define rules governing what public users are allowed to do.

The software has also reduced the number of viruses, trojans and spyware infected the network by preventing downloading of undesirable software.

Less visits to the library means the county's IT department can spend more time focus on other critical systems, such as treasury and social services.

'We used to have a regular influx of calls from the library every week, which placed a heavy workload on our team,' said Waite. 'Since we've installed Sanctuary Application Control we?ve never had a call out to a PC.'