Endpoint security: a case study

Promisec is a software vendor pioneering the clientless approach to comprehensive endpoint security management.  Otherwise known as CESM, Clientless Endpoint Security Management is a software technology that provides its users with total visibility and control of endpoint and server activity.  The technology runs a deep inspection of each endpoint to identify and eliminate hidden threats that can go unnoticed until they become a major security breach.  For example; shared folders containing sensitive information, dual connectivity to multiple networks, rogue processes and stealth applications, rootkit and botnet infections can all remain below the radar of normal monitoring.  These are all threats to endpoint security that niche products such as device or application control are unable to address with a single client. Promisec’s Spectator Professional offers administrators and security officers centralized management of their entire network of endpoints which includes remote remediation and device prevention functionality. The case study below illustrates a deployment of Promisec’s award winning solution at King’s College Hospital in London. 

The Challenge
King’s College Hospital is one of Britain’s largest and busiest teaching hospitals. The hospital needed a solution to secure its internal network of over 3000 endpoints. The solution needed to be able to identify and fix deviations from its security and usage policy without adversely affecting its network performance. Due to the number of different people using the network it was difficult to keep track of users’ activity and the software and hardware used on their workstations. The solution had to complement the hospital’s existing IT infrastructure without involving any major changes to the status quo due to the limited resources available.  

The Solution
After reviewing several other endpoint security solutions, King’s College Hospital chose Spectator Professional to manage more than 3000 network endpoints and ensure that internal network compliance initiatives were satisfied.  

The hospital chose Spectator Professional due to its clientless approach to detecting potential endpoint weaknesses and ability to remediate identified threats. Spectator Professional is installed on a single server and provides an Agentless, single point of management for the organization’s extensive network of Windows-based computer systems. Promisec’s clientless solution helps the hospital to significantly reduce endpoint administrative and security tasks and increase the productivity of IT staff as well as that of its users, while decreasing its exposure to internal threats, both malicious and accidental.

Spectator Professional’ was the ideal choice because of the complete range of threats it addressed, its ease of deployment and simple yet powerful operation.

Kings’ College Hospital has expressed great satisfaction with its new security system.

"Promisec Spectator Professional gives us comprehensive visibility into endpoint activity and greater control over our network,” said Derek Farlow, ICT Security Manager at King’s College Hospital. “Its clientless approach makes deployment quick and easy, and the software’s versatility enables us to secure our endpoints simply while enforcing that security across the entire organization from a single point in our network."

Benefits of the Solution

• Detects hidden threats. Spectator Professional identifies threats that have bypassed gateway security systems and embedded themselves in the network - rogue access points, modems or any other peripheral device added to any network endpoint or server, and unauthorized processes or applications. Especially problematic here was the unauthorized use of Instant Messengers.
• Eliminates potential threats. Using remote remediation technology from a centralized management console, Spectator Professional enables administrators in the hospital to automatically kill harmful processes and reverse dangerous registry changes, directly from their own workstation.
• Prevents leaking of confidential information. Spectator Professional prevents the use of mass storage devices or any peripheral I/O device on any endpoint or group of endpoints as well as other mechanisms used to port information out of a network. This effectively stops individuals from illegally copying sensitive company information onto portable devices. 
• Monitors for compliance. In today's environment of ever-evolving regulatory standards, Spectator Professional enables organizations to ensure constant compliance according to company policy. If for any reason an endpoint becomes non-compliant, Spectator can return it to a state of compliance using the built in 'Repair' module.

For further information on endpoint security please visit www.promisec.com
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