Calyx Group, an independent end-to-end provider of Information & Communications Technology (ICT) in Ireland and the UK, has deployed a range of email and website security services for the Irish Stock Exchange.
A key element of the financial infrastructure of Ireland since opening for trading in 1793, the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) provides for trading in equities and Government bonds and also in the listing of investment funds and specialist debt securities.
Prior to the deployment by Calyx Group, the Irish Stock Exchange suffered from large volumes of SPAM, accounting for up to 90% of the organisations inbound email. The ISE required a new SPAM solution that was capable of being self-managed and easy to administer compared to the existing solutions that were in place.
Following consultation with David Garrett IT Operations Manager and his team at the Irish Stock Exchange, Calyx recommended a service from IronPort. IronPort Systems is an independent business unit of Cisco. Operating as a part of Cisco’s Security Technology Group, IronPort is a provider of anti-spam, anti-virus and anti-spyware appliances for organisations ranging from small businesses to the Global 2000.
“Following a number of very successful installations on sites in Ireland we were confident IronPort would be the best solution to resolve the Irish Stock Exchange’s SPAM problem. IronPort C100 devices stop the SPAM messages at the gateway, even before they enter the network,” says Tim Quan, Calyx Security.
Accurate Reputation Filtering was a key aspect of the IronPort deployment. The IronPort devices can accurately determine which messages are not good by reputation and can confidently drop the connections having used over 100 parameters to assure the email is legitimate.
The initial deployment was an instant success with SPAM email reduced dramatically within days. Users were able to review SPAM quarantines and release valid messages when appropriate, reducing the reliance on IT staff.
Following the successful implementation of the IronPort email security devices, the IS E engaged with Calyx to look into the deployment of new web security devices to replace their existing technologies. A key requirement was reverse proxy look-ups for web traffic. The organisation also required a reputation filter on a web proxy which would be able to cache and also deal with viruses, phishing and spyware attack. As the ISE had already reviewed the IronPort service Calyx deployed the IronPort S-Series Web Security device which combines traditional URL filtering, reputation filtering and malware filtering on a single platform to address Web related risks.
“We have been delighted with the success of both implementations, we now have two single devices which have replaced multiple devices in previous solutions. This has provided savings both from a cost and time perspective. Calyx and IronPort has helped us to resolve our issues with inbound SPAM, trusted sites and web related threats,” says David Garrett, IT operations manager, Irish Stock Exchange.