Monroe College

College Eliminates Virus Downtime, Eases Administration with Client Security Solution

Monroe College IT staff members had struggled with the school’s security applications. The college’s first security software left its desktop and laptop computers vulnerable to Internet viruses and spyware, resulting in multiple outages and downtime. The second product reduced the number of outages, but it was difficult to maintain, and the Monroe IT group struggled to keep security updates current. Monroe College turned to Microsoft® Forefront™ Client Security and has not experienced a disruption due to a virus or malicious software in more than a year because of improved virus and spyware protection. Further, the IT staff appreciates having a simplified system administration process and the ability to easily deploy software updates.

 

Situation

Monroe College is a private college with a main campus located in the Bronx borough of New York City, and it has two additional campuses in New Rochelle, New York, and the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. Monroe offers degrees in a variety of professional careers, such as nursing, culinary arts, accounting, business, and information science.

For the first time in seven years, we haven’t experienced any downtime or problems associated with viruses, nor have we found anything that went undetected. Harry McCaffrey Director of IT Planning, Monroe College

The college’s IT staff of 30 full-time professionals face the daunting task of maintaining and protecting more than 1,800 computers, 70 physical servers, and 100 virtual servers. In addition, many students bring to campus personal laptop computers and mobile devices that require network connectivity. This creates distinct vulnerabilities for the college’s network. 

Over the past four years, Monroe encountered difficulties with two different client security software products. First, Monroe deployed Norton AntiVirus software from Symantec throughout the college’s desktop environment. “Norton was relatively easy to manage and keep up-to-date,” says Harry McCaffrey, Director of IT Planning at Monroe College. “However, we had several instances of viruses that were not caught. We were able to contain them before they spread widely, but it was very threatening.” Also, Symantec would not allow authenticated users to download the antivirus software to their own, personal computers, so the college had to trust that students would use their own antivirus software on their personal computers.

When the licensing agreement for Norton expired, Monroe deployed Sophos Security and Data Protection, which identified and blocked viruses when it was up-to-date. But Monroe experienced problems with the software not recognizing client signatures and its inability to push updates to client computers. “We had a special consultant come in and reset everything for us, and we still experienced many of the same challenges,” McCaffrey continues. “Pushing out updates in general was a problem.”

Monroe College needed a client security solution that could provide consistent and reliable updates, would be easy to administer, and could effectively protect its users from viruses and malicious software (malware). In addition, the licensing agreement that Monroe College had with Sophos was set to expire soon. The college had a limited window of time to evaluate, test, and decide on a new solution.

Solution

Monroe College researched and tested several security software options, but the IT team did not find a product that met all of the college’s needs. Then, McCaffrey and other members of the IT department participated in a Web-based seminar on Microsoft® Forefront™ Client Security and liked what they learned.

The Microsoft Forefront Client Security solution offered everything we needed. It was clearly a perfect fit for us. Harry McCaffrey Director of IT Planning, Monroe College

At the same time, the college’s Microsoft Core Client Access License, part of its Campus Agreement under the Microsoft Academic Volume Licensing program, was up for renewal. During talks with Microsoft about the college’s licensing status, McCaffrey discussed the college’s need to find a security solution. “Microsoft understood our problem and worked to find the resources to assist us,” says McCaffrey. “A Microsoft engineer who specializes in Forefront Client Security came to campus and set up a proof of concept so that we could see the security solution in action.”

There are two parts to the Forefront Client Security solution, the Security Agent and the central management server. The Security Agent provides real-time protection and scheduled scans for viruses and other security threats on desktop and laptop computers. The central management server enables administrators to manage and update preconfigured malware protection agents. The central management server also generates security reports and status alerts.

To reflect the college’s infrastructure in the proof of concept, the Security Agent was installed on 20 client computers running the Windows® XP Professional and Windows Vista® operating systems. The client computers encompass both laptop and desktop computers and were from various manufacturers, including Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, and Lenovo. The central management server component was installed on an IBM System x3650 server running the Windows Server® 2003 Enterprise Edition operating system.

Because the college intends to move its computers to the most recent release of Windows in the future, it sought reassurance of the compatibility between its new security solution and other systems. “Any product that has such vast distribution needed to be both upward and downward compatible with the operating system,” says McCaffrey. “Such compatibility was certainly a significant consideration during our evaluation process.”

The IT team at Monroe College was quickly trained on Forefront Client Security. “In a single day, our people understood the product—how to set it up, how to manage it—and we were able to conduct the proof of concept during a short period of time,” McCaffrey says.

During the proof of concept, Forefront Client Security demonstrated its ability to help block viruses and keep computers safer from malware. Monroe IT staff members also found that Forefront Client Security could be implemented easily, in part because it interoperates well with other Microsoft products and technologies, such as the Active Directory® service. The team also used Windows Server Update Services to manage software updates across the clients. They were impressed by the ability of Windows Server Update Services to handle continuous updates easily and consistently. Finally, as part of the college’s Campus Agreement, authenticated users, such as Monroe students and faculty, are allowed to download the Forefront Client Security software to their personal computers that connect to the network.

In September 2008, Monroe College deployed Forefront Client Security throughout its three campuses. “It was less than a month between the time that we started looking into Forefront Client Security to when we made our decision,” says Terry McGowan, Chief Information Officer for Monroe College.

Benefits

“The Microsoft Forefront Client Security solution offered everything we needed,” says McCaffrey. “It was clearly a perfect fit for us.” The college has implemented more effective protection against viruses and malware and improved administration, as well as captured some unexpected benefits.

Improved Security and Eliminated Downtime

Monroe College no longer struggles with occasional viruses or spyware thanks to Forefront Client Security. The security solution has enabled real-time scans for both viruses and spyware before they disrupt users and result in problematic downtime. “For the first time in seven years, we haven’t experienced any downtime or problems associated with viruses, nor have we found anything that went undetected,” says McCaffrey. “If you had told me that would be the case seven years ago, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

We have fewer than 5 percent of people requesting assistance with the installation. With Forefront Client Security, those calls have virtually disappeared. It works very cleanly, very simply for our users. Terry McGowan Chief Information Officer, Monroe College

In addition, the IT staff at Monroe feels more confident with the security of the college’s network. Because authenticated users can download Forefront Client Security software to their personal devices, the risk introduced by students’ and faculty members’ laptop computers and mobile devices is greatly reduced. And because the installation is easy, many people take advantage of it.

Simplified System Administration

Because the security system works with the college’s existing Microsoft network, software updates are downloaded from Microsoft Update and then distributed to individual machines using Windows Server Update Services. McCaffrey says, “We haven’t experienced any problems with administration and management.”

Monroe College’s IT staff has also reduced the time spent supporting the installation of security agent software on new computers joining the college’s network. Prior to Forefront Client Security, the college’s IT help desk regularly received calls from users experiencing problems with either the installation or updating of the provided security product. “I’d say we have fewer than 5 percent of people requesting assistance with the installation. With Forefront Client Security, those calls have virtually disappeared. It works very cleanly, very simply for our users,” says McGowan.

The IT staff also feels confident in the support and assistance it receives from Microsoft. “The outstanding level of support that we get from Microsoft is something we haven’t seen with any other antivirus product,” says McGowan. “The fact that we can call the manufacturer at almost any time and get an expert on the phone without waiting for hours is tremendous.”

Monroe College also plans to update its client computers and servers with a more recent version of the Windows operating system. With Forefront Client Security, the college is confident with the security solution’s ability to support both the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 operating systems, thus simplifying the future upgrade process.

Finally, Monroe College is able to integrate the Microsoft Core Client Access License (CAL) for Forefront Client Security in its current Microsoft Campus Agreement. “It was nice to add the Forefront Client Security licensing to our current agreement and not add another vendor. Because of the success with Forefront Client Security, we are now evaluating moving up to a Campus Desktop with Enterprise CAL agreement,” says McCaffrey.

Streamlined Software Updates

Monroe College now easily deploys updates across the network. Active Directory works with Forefront Client Security to recognize individual signatures and configure and distribute necessary updates on individual computers using Windows Server Update Services. Because the security solution works well with Windows Server Update Services, the school can better ensure that all computers have the most current security updates. Updates are now distributed and installed without the need for an IT administrator to physically configure machines.

 

Microsoft Forefront Product Portfolio
The Microsoft Forefront comprehensive line-of-business security products provides greater protection and control through integration with your existing IT infrastructure and through simplified deployment, management, and analysis. Forefront is a comprehensive solution that helps provide protection for the client operating system, application servers, and the network edge.

For more information about the Forefront product portfolio, go to:
www.microsoft.com/forefront

 

For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the United States and Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com

For more information about Monroe College products and services, call (718) 933-6700 or visit the Web site at:
www.monroecollege.edu