Security Required for Email and Internet Usage
Monterey Mushrooms is the largest grower, shipper and marketer of fresh mushrooms in the United States. Established in 1971 as a single farm operation, the organization has grown into an international, multi-facility company with more than 4,000 employees around the world. In the late 1990’s, the company started using email for a lot of its communications needs, and with this came the risk of allowing malicious software such as viruses and worms onto the network. In addition, at around the same time, employees were starting to use the Internet to access information to help them do their jobs more efficiently, and consequently spyware was becoming an issue.
“We needed a solution to help us combat all of these things at once,” said Shayne Barr, senior network administrator for Monterey Mushrooms, Inc. “We wanted an all-in-one solution that would be easy to manage—an email gateway, internet proxy server, spyware filter, anti-virus, and access control server.”
After looking at a number of different solutions from various vendors, including eSoft, SonicWALL and Symantec, Barr found his solution in a comprehensive security gateway from eSoft. “Nothing else out there offered all the functionality eSoft offered at the price point they offered,” said Barr. “You could get a firewall box and then get some individual components to help you fight these things one at a time, but you couldn’t get one box with everything all wrapped in one neat package, or if you could, you paid a very high price. eSoft’s InstaGate was a nice surprise, helping us battle everything from spyware and viruses on the network and helping us control access.”
Monterey Mushrooms has deployed nine eSoft InstaGate Security Gateways across its locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and France, and a ThreatWall is installed at its headquarters in California. InstaGate, which utilizes a high-performance Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) Firewall and IPSec VPN architecture, offers unparalleled protection from dynamic, content-based threats that elude traditional firewalls. The ThreatWall has been purpose-built to withstand the rigors of application-level security, making deployment of critical security functions such as anti-virus, anti-phishing, intrusion prevention, and web content filtering almost effortless while retaining maximum effectiveness.
Spyware, Spam, Intrusions and Malware Stopped
The InstaGate’s Intrusion Prevention System keeps hackers off the network. The gateway automatically logs attacks for reporting and analysis and alerts an administrator when there’s a high priority attack. The InstaGate is updated constantly with the latest signatures for blocking new and emerging attacks.
“Keeping hackers off the network, maintaining a functional network and ensuring our employees get the information they need while not damaging our resources are my top goals,” said Barr. “With eSoft, I achieve those goals.”
eSoft’s Email ThreatPak handles all of Monterey Mushrooms’ needs for virus protection, email security, content filtering, and spam mitigation. The latest spam-fighting technology is combined with a powerful anti-virus and content scanning engine to provide the organization with comprehensive protection from both external and internal email-borne threats.
Within the Email ThreatPak is eSoft’s Content Filter feature, which scans Monterey Mushrooms’ employees’ incoming and outgoing email for keywords, phrases, and patterns that indicate possible policy breaches, and offending emails are quarantined for an administrator to inspect.
“InstaGate blocks spyware, and there are a lot fewer problems with individual PCs on our network getting infected with malware,” said Barr. “Where before we didn’t have the control over what was coming onto our network, now we have more control. Even when we had virus protection on the desktop, problems still got through before. Now, with the eSoft solution, there’s an extra layer of protection at the InstaGate – there are very few instances of malware infections.”
More Control and Protection against Malicious Websites
Within eSoft’s Web ThreatPak is the web filtering feature powered by eSoft’s acclaimed Site Filter technology. Web filter policies can be specified on a per group, per user, or per time of day basis. This feature gives Barr complete control of enforcing what sites individual users or groups of users can access at specific times of the day.
“Our employees rely on email and commercial websites to do banking, so more and more users have to go to the internet to do their jobs in this business,” said Barr. “If I lock it down too tightly, they can’t do their jobs. There’s a delicate balance to maintain between keeping the bad things out and keeping things functional. eSoft helps us maintain that balance.”
“There’s a delicate balance to maintain between keeping the bad things out and keeping things functional. eSoft helps us maintain that balance.”said Shayne Barr, Senior Network Administrator, Monterey Mushrooms, Inc.
In addition to keeping employees off phishing sites or sites known to serve up malware, Site Filter also helps keep Monterey Mushrooms employees focused by keeping a database of sites not allowed, including auction, shopping, social networking, and other distracting sites.
eSoft – More than Security Appliances
Barr appreciates eSoft for more than its security gateways. “Over the years, knowing eSoft and its staff and experiencing the support we’ve received, I have to say it’s been a great pleasure,” said Barr. “They’ve been able to deal with everything I’ve brought to them. I appreciate their willingness to deal with challenges and questions right away. The support has been terrific.”
