Improved Security for the Network and Web
Upon getting in touch with Altinet, West Bridgford were highly concerned about the security and reliability of their internet. For schools in particular it is highly important to consider web filtering options to ensure students cannot gain access - whether purposeful or accidental - to obscene or harmful website content, and is typically a requirement in order to comply with Ofsted regulations, so naturally West Bridgford were committed to ensuring the safety of their students whilst working online.
On top of overall security, the school also specified their need for a solution that was easy to administer, manage, and customise - this is especially notable as schools often face problems with web filters that offer high levels of security with little policy customisation, leading to legitimate educational content being blocked by mistake.
The school also expressed interest in a new, more robust firewall to replace their existing solution which was providing insufficient protection against network-based cyber threats like spyware, ransomware, and DDoS attacks.
White Paper: Network Visibility and Effective Reporting
Our internet access has been a lot more reliable and the ability to fine-tune filtering policies by year groups has been really useful. These solutions have taken a lot of the stresses away and allowed us to concentrate on other areas.
Rob Mays, ICT Systems Manager West Bridgford School
Dedicated Barracuda Appliances
When asked what their top priorities were in terms of key features, the team at West Bridgford had 4 areas that mattered most; security, reliability, end-user friendliness, and administration ease - so lets breakdown exactly how these areas were addressed.
The Barracuda Web Security Gateway keeps users safe by blocking malicious downloads, preventing viruses, and restricting requests to suspicious websites by levering intelligence from thousands of collection points worldwide. Barracuda's award winning anti-virus and anti-spyware technologies combine preventative, proactive, and reactive measures to deliver trusted content filtering and malware protection.
Barracuda's CloudGen Firewall allows users to shut down the advanced and zero-day threats that bypass traditional, signature-based IPS and anti-virus engines with its tightly integrated firewall technologies, including application profiling, intrusion prevention and advanced threat protection. On top of this, the CloudGen Firewall promotes reliable network availability thanks to its highly resilient VPN technology combined with intelligent traffic management.
Additionally, both solutions offer access to Barracuda's Appliance Control Centre, allowing for monitoring and configuration in a single online interface, including performance and traffic insights, device management, policy management, and audit logs.
White Paper: Barracuda Advanced Threat Protection
Fast Installation, Excellent Support
The process of West Bridgford's hardware installation was a very straightforward case, taking only 1 day for the project to be completed.
On top of this, the ongoing technical support provided by Altinet was praised by the team, with Rob Mays commenting, "The support provided by Altinet has been excellent throughout our previous and existing contract. We are very happy to have recently renewed and upgraded our products and services."
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