Stopping Spyware at the Border

CeloNova

“We’ve experienced zero spyware issues since we installed Untangle.”

Background
For any company, running even a small network, security is a big issue. Keeping out the bad guys can be hard work, even when you have a dedicated IT team.

This has certainly been the experience of Chris Christiansen of CeloNova BioSciences, Inc. Based in Georgia, CeloNova’s global operation manufactures medical technologies. Chris runs the in-house IT operation, administering a network of fifty users. He has been using Untangle for over two years.

Eliminating Spyware
“Before we implemented Untangle, spyware was our big problem,” says Chris. “In fact, it was the number one reason for support requests to the IT helpdesk.”

CeloNova operates in an industry that is competitive and time-critical, and a high degree of information security is crucial. Network integrity is so important to the CeloNova operation that Chris operates a layered, multiple-redundancy system for catching viruses and spyware. Untangle represents a key part of this system, and, according to Chris, “...catches 99.9 percent of everything. We do use other applications, but they are essentially there as a safety net in our layered defense strategy.” Running in the background, Untangle allows Chris and his IT team to focus on the day-to-day business of maintaining and upgrading the network without having to constantly monitor for security risks.

Freeing-Up Helpdesk
Chris says that although the actual time saving Untangle has provided is hard to quantify, it has dramatically improved the helpdesk operation by freeing up time that would otherwise have been used resolving critical spyware issues. Specifically, he says that the CeloNova network has experienced zero spyware issues since Untangle was installed.

“The installation itself was a painless process,” Chris goes on. He has also found that Untangle’s transparency is useful: it stays out of the way of users, but it’s useful for people to know it’s there, providing accountability and effective network monitoring via daily, weekly and monthly reports.

“It’s great,” says Chris, “on a day-to-day basis there’s no need to configure or change anything. It’s truly a plug and play system.”