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Ipswich Hospital uses Sophos endpoint, email and web security to defend 3500 users from spam and malware

IT security and control firm Sophos today announced that it is delivering protection against spam, viruses, spyware and other forms of malware to Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust. Providing healthcare services to nearly half a million people, Ipswich Hospital has selected Sophos Enterprise Security and Control to defend 3500 staff accounts from both email and web-based malware as well as the rising tide of spam email messages.

New research from Sophos finds one new infected webpage every five seconds, up from one in fifteen seconds in 2007 - ninety percent of which are found on legitimate but infected websites. These sharp increases in web-based attacks are a grave concern for organisations such as Ipswich Hospital which are responsible for protecting large amounts of sensitive information.

Before switching to Sophos for their email and web protection, Ipswich Hospital were running products from Bluecoat, Clearswift and SurfControl, as well as Sophos's desktop and server offering. Upon renewal, the hospital reviewed its entire network security infrastructure and opted to fulfil all its security requirements with Sophos. The NHS Trust implemented the ES4000 email and WS1000 web appliances, as well as upgrading its protection for desktops, laptops, file servers and mobile devices with Sophos's Endpoint Security and Control.

"From an efficiency point of view, it was vital that we deployed a simple, easy to use but comprehensive solution," said Karl Kroger, senior technical support specialist at Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust. "Having had a good experience with Sophos endpoint protection software, the common interface with the additional gateway products means that all our security is now controlled in a much more intelligible way."

Delivering trusted content security and URL filtering in a single appliance, the WS1000 ensures a secure web browsing experience for Ipswich Hospital, as it protects against all forms of malware and productivity threats, and is automatically updated every couple of minutes with the latest threat defences.

Handling up to 80,000 messages an hour, the ES4000 features an intuitive web-based interface, automated security updates and remotely monitors and alerts IT staff at the NHS Trust to any issues - greatly minimising administration time.

"A highlight of this project was the support we received from Sophos," continued Kroger. "We were able to install the new Sophos gateway products on a free trial basis alongside the previous solutions, making the switch over very quick and very smooth. But, what really stood out, was how competitive Sophos was, beating the other solutions we looked at by some margin."

The Sophos Enterprise Security and Control software and appliances were all supplied by Foursys, the Cambridge-based Sophos Platinum Partner. “We have been supplying and supporting security products at The Ipswich NHS Trust for more than five years, so when they said that they wanted to reduce costs and simplify administration we felt that the Sophos approach would be the best overall solution for the Trust” said Paul Prior, Managing Director of Foursys Ltd. “In fact the Trust was able to install both mail and web appliances with relative ease, and so prove to management that they could make savings in time and effort. Many of our public sector customers are looking at a similar approach, particularly in the NHS where budgets are limited and IT teams are under pressure.”

"In recent months, the UK has suffered from a number of high-profile data breaches involving public and government authorities," said Andrew Bradshaw, VP at Sophos UK. "It's important that all organisations realise the severity of a compromised network, which threatens public confidence and potentially serves up sensitive information to hackers. By developing products that address these issues, Sophos continues to help its channel partners to offer their customers cost-effective solutions suited directly to their needs."

Ends

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About Sophos:
Sophos enables enterprises worldwide to secure and control their IT infrastructure. Our network access control, endpoint, web and email solutions simplify security to provide integrated defences against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift. With over 20 years of experience, we protect over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with our reliably engineered security solutions and services. Recognised for our high level of customer satisfaction, we have an enviable history of industry awards, reviews and certifications.

Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, UK and Boston, US. More information is available at www.sophos.com.
 

About Foursys Ltd:
Fourys is an independent solutions provider specialising in information security, with over 14 years experience, 800 customers and 2 million licensed users throughout the UK, all protected with the products and services that we supply.

Notes:

Sophos makes available free, constantly updated information about the latest malware and security news via a series of RSS feeds. Visit http://www.sophos.com/feeds for more information.

Free anti-virus protection is available for journalists. For more information on applying for this service, please visit: http://www.sophos.com/pressprotection