UVSC Case Study

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Overview

Despite existing e-mail security layers — including pattern scanning — Utah Valley State College'as 30,000 e-mail users still suffered from virus outbreaks. In addition to destroying ?les on the network, security threats prompted a lockdown on using speci?c, mission-critical attachments. With iSolation Server® testing e-mail attachments prior to enduser delivery, UVSC immediately eliminated unknown e-mail security threats — quarantining approximately 18,500 malicious attachments since installation.

About UVSC

UVSC is a four-year public institution of higher learning with nearly 25,000 students and 3,000 faculty and staff. The campus relies on e-mail as a critical application to exchange ideas and assignments with 18,000 to 24,000 messages arriving each day.

Challenge: E-mail security attacks

Problem 1: Fast-moving e-mail attacks

When IT administrators at UVSC noted an increasing number of signature file updates received from antivirus vendors, they became concerned about a potential vulnerability gap on their network. Despite an antispam/antivirus appliance at the network gateway and automatically updated antivirus utilities on each faculty desktop, if an unknown virus arrived, the network's security could be breached.

In one instance, a user unleashed a virus through an e-mail attachment, which accessed a server and destroyed its entire contents.

"We received a signature file within a half-day to protect against that particular virus, but the damage had already been done," according to director of infrastructure operations Brett McKeachnie.

In addition, UVSC recognized the growing threat of a targeted attack specifically aimed at its users. Since custom-engineered threats targeted at the college have no corresponding signature pattern, e-mail viruses could potentially breach security of sensitive servers like those in the registrar's office and steal confidential data.

Problem 2: Decreased user productivity

Because of virus outbreaks, administrators also lost time restoring destroyed files. Such recovery efforts diverted IT staff and resources from their primary focus. In an attempt to mitigate such outbreaks, administrators turned to locking specific attachment types like .exe, .zip, and .dll files. The restriction, however, translated into decreased user productivity. In one instance, the policy provoked backlash from computer science majors who needed to submit required programming assignments to their professors via e-mail.

Solution: iSolation Server

Enhanced protection with iSolation Server

Before iSolation Server, UVSC didn't know how many viruses bypassed their existing security. For McKeachnie, it was a wake-up call. "iSolation Server stopped six unknown viruses the first day of deployment," he said. "From then on, we decided it was an essential component of our security strategy."

Eliminated downtime and recovery expense

With iSolation Server protecting its SMTP traffic, UVSC experienced no downtime or recovery expenses due to e-mail malware. The solution processed over 8.3 million e-mails and uncovered approximately 18,500 malicious attachments. By testing active content, iSolation Server permitted the use of mission-critical file types — like those used by the computer science students.

After installation, iSolation Server required no maintenance beyond a simple review of the quarantined file queue. On average, the system handled an average of 18,000 to 24,000 e-mails/day after spam filtering. During a failure of the primary antivirus system, iSolation Server functioned successfully in its place and processed a backlog of 250,000 messages in under two hours.

Clear and demonstrated value

iSolation Server successfully stopped new and unknown virus attacks from penetrating the UVSC campus network. From then, it became an integral part of the institution's e-mail security strategy. For McKeachnie, the value of iSolation Server is clear. "iSolation Server's proactive approach to e-mail security means significantly less worry that users will inadvertently open a malicious message," he said."If given the choice, I would replace my other e-mail antivirus protection before ever replacing iSolation Server.