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Crompton Greaves fortifies its network

When standalone Linux-based anti-virus and firewall solutions failed to meet its requirements, Crompton Greaves switched over to a UTM solution, writes Vinutha V

Having a proper IT security solution is like taking an insurance policy. Customers and business partners demand that an enterprise’s IT environment be secure. When Crompton Greaves (CG)—a manufacturer and marketer of electrical products and services related to power generation (including transmission and distribution)— was looking to expand its Web-based business, IT security became a primary concern. Web transactions worth Rs 15 crore to Rs 20 crore were taking place, compelling the company to go in for an advanced security solution instead of its existing Linux-based firewall and anti-virus solutions.

Legacy solutions had limited scope

CG’s operations are spread across the country with 20 divisions and 14 marketing or service branches. Communication among these offices occurs through leased lines, VPNs and VSATs. The nerve centre of this network lies in Mumbai, where the corporate servers are located and IT services are based. On this network, there is an employee intranet and a SAP ERP solution that manages the company’s operations. Dealers, vendors, suppliers and customers across India transact through the e-commerce interface with the SAP system through portals which speed up information gathering and facilitate various activities that involve placing orders and tracking order status.

In 1999, the employee intranet and SAP ERP were implemented. Because the company ran only basic applications such as e-mail and the Internet, it implemented a few Linux-based security solutions in 2001. These included a Linux-based firewall and anti-virus at the gateway. Managing these was a complex task for CG employees as they had to get familiar with the Linux command line. The company was planning to have DMZ (De-Militarised Zones), but it needed additional hardware for the IT security solution to be implemented. The Linux-based IT security solution was limited to the gateway-level, and there was no protection at the client-level.

Prime concern

The lack of features in the Linux-based IT security solutions was a concern. Accessing the SAP server was an uncertain situation for mobile users as they were not sure of the encryption and security. Chances of internal servers (which were running Windows NT and SAP servers) getting corrupted were on the higher side. Despite the implementation of security solutions, there were instances of virus and worm attacks—leading to applications such as e-mail and browsing coming to a halt. A few ports, which were not in use on a regular basis, were also attacked by Trojans and worms.

As the business grew and information protection became of paramount importance, the company realised that its Linux-based security solutions did not match its growth requirements. “Despite having Linux-based standalone security solutions, we faced virus and worm attacks. As the company was looking at growth in terms of geographical locations and customers, we were not too confident of the existing security solutions and whether they would meet the demands of our growing business,” says Debanjan Dutta, Manager, IT, Crompton Greaves. The company had decided to be customer- and dealer-oriented; it planned an overhaul of its network infrastructure for the same. Operations were expanded overseas when CG acquired a company in Belgium. Web access was extended to all e- transactions. Dealer and vendor portals were created. e-transactions grew to Rs 15 crore to Rs 20 crore per month. What’s more, e-transactions of Rs 50 lakh and above by a single dealer started taking place. In June 2004, the company decided to revamp the existing IT security set-up. Security policies were reviewed and more stringent security measures were proposed. In addition to the desired security features, the company was looking for integrated management of security—eliminating the need for manual intervention. It therefore decided to deploy a UTM (Unified Threat Management) box.

Unified we stand

In July 2004, several IT security vendors were evaluated, including the likes of Cisco, Stonegate, Checkpoint, Netscreen and Fortinet. CG finally chose Fortinet’s UTM solution because its security appliance was a manageable and cost-effective solution. The company evaluated Fortinet’s FortiGate 1000 solution by visiting customers using it. In January 2005, IBM Global Services implemented the FortiGate 1000 UTM solution. It was implemented on 50 servers with an unlimited user licence. The implementation was done in three weeks. It was configured and the switchover from the existing Linux-based firewall to the new FortiGate platforms took place in just four hours. The implementaion was smooth barring a small issue wherein the VPN network did not support a few functions.

The intangibles

FortiGate’s UTM appliance provides complete network protection services to CG in terms of firewall, VPN, intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, content filtering, traffic shaping and anti-spam at the gateway-level. It helped consolidate the IT network. With the installation of UTM, CG divided its servers effortlessly into e-commerce and SAP zones. The company’s field workforce can now easily log on to SAP without travelling to branch offices, leading to savings on time and cost. Earlier, IT security solutions were implemented only at the gateway-level. This was extended to the client-level, making the entire IT environment secure.

As the UTM has a graphical user interface, it is user-friendly. Thus, it eliminates all the hassle of needing to know the Linux command line. Having a combined set of IT security solutions in a box gives the company the flexibility to handle IT security. “For a manufacturing company such as ours, IT is a major part of investment. But we always try to minimise its management without compromising on the benefits. Through the implementation of FortiGate’s UTM, we achieved intangible benefits in terms of cost, time and manageability,” affirms Dutta.

vinutha@expresscomputeronline.com