It is the oldest securities exchange in the United States but there
is nothing antique about the Philadelphia Stock Exchange’s approach
to information security. Other companies hold their breath and cross
their fingers, hoping only authorized people gain access to critical
data that’s password-protected, and that security patches and encryption
strategies hold back the flood of malware waiting to attack from
the outside. The Exchange, on the other hand, developed a strategy
to “find the problems before they find you.”
The proactive path led the Exchange straight to Safend. Safend,
headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel with a US office in Philadelphia,
develops security software for network endpoints. Specifically,
Safend solutions address the vulnerabilities presented by peripheral
connections such as USB, removable media, and wireless devices.
When Allan Pomerantz, CSO for the Exchange, went shopping for
an endpoint security solution, Safend made the short list. “We looked
at a couple of other products, but after seeing the demo for Safend’s
USB Port Protector, I requested that Gene meet with them.” Pomerantz
says.
Safend offers a free tool that identifies potential security
leaks, so Gene Peters, Director of Information Services for the
Exchange, ran Safend’s Auditor on their network. The free download
provides a list of all devices that are or have been connected to
the network within the last six months. The vulnerabilities exposed
after running the USB Auditor are, at best, unsettling to most companies’
security personnel. But at the Exchange, Peters was not disturbed
by what he saw. “We run a tight security environment,” he says.
“USB Auditor really didn’t find anything we weren’t aware of.” He
does, however, agree: “Auditor is a very interesting tool.”
Tight security notwithstanding, the Exchange’s IT department
is not in denial. Sarbanes-Oxley and a flood of news stories touting
the failure of other big-name companies to keep private records
under wraps has put security center stage in the financial community.
With 400 machines to secure and a small staff, Peters knew he would
either have to find a creative solution to the threat of data tampering
and theft via physical ports or start rebuilding PCs. Safend provided
the answer with their newest product, Safend Protector.
“Safend’s products are well thought out and actually accomplish
more than we expected,” he asserts. “The product is robust, helping
us in our proactive quest to identify potential problems.”
Safend Protector provides data access control from the physical
ports of all enterprise endpoints, such as USB, FireWire, WiFi,
Bluetooth, Infrared (IrDA), and CD/DVDs yet allows IT management
to customize user policies.
“The theft of intellectual property is a major concern in most
corporate environments, including ours,” says Pomerantz. “However,
even more troubling for us is the risk of someone walking in here,
plugging in a USB device, and uploading malware. Safend Protector
will help us reduce that risk.”
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Case Study: Philadelphia Stock Exchange