Charity hits back at malware

The National Trust opts for a managed security solution as threats rise

The National Trust has installed a managed security service to improve its defences against targeted malware and provide web filtering services for its employees.

The charity has 5,000 full-time staff and relies heavily on the web to manage historic properties, to research and share information and to use benchmarking and educational tools.

Dan Webster, network architect at the National Trust, says the organisation is surprised by the amount of malware targeting its enterprise networks.

‘We are seeing a general rise in the number of web threats probably deployed by opportunists in a random manner,’ he said. ‘Twelve months ago there were few such threats coming in.’

The trust’s legacy firewall and virtual private network (VPN) infrastructure provides a secure perimeter, but increasing numbers of mobile workers requiring remote access and VPN services means tighter security is needed.

Steve Marsden, supplier manager at the National Trust, says the flexible employment of staff in the summer also puts the organisation at increased risk.

‘Each year the Trust’s headcount more than doubles as part-time seasonal staff are employed to cope with the increase in visitors to our sites,’ he said.

‘Many of these seasonal staff need access to the web and we needed a solution that allows us to easily add new users and set user policies without requiring the costly and time-consuming deployment of new hardware or software on multiple sites.’

The ScanSafe system blocks malware before it reaches the network, and identifies and blocks zero-hour threats that appear before an anti-virus signature is available.

It identifies machines already infected with spyware and prevents them from calling home. The system also provides tools to create, enforce and monitor company internet usage policies.

Marsden says the National Trust opted for managed security because it provides support as well as expertise. ‘We rely heavily on the support team because of their technical expertise and knowledge of the mechanics of firewall configuration,’ he said.

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