CGNET GateKeeper Helps IUCN Deliver Mission-Critical Email

IUCN--The World Conservation Union is a unique union. Its members from some 140 countries include 77 states, 114 government agencies, and 800-plus NGOs. More than 10,000 internationally recognized scientists and experts from more than 180 countries volunteer their services to its six global commissions. Its 1,000 staff members in offices around the world are working on some 500 projects. Since 1948, this "Green Web" of partnerships has generated environmental conventions, global standards, scientific knowledge, and innovative leadership.

The Problem

Back in 2003, IUCN began successfully defending against a mounting spam problem. In partnership with CGNET Services, a trusted managed network services provider for nonprofits and a Symantec software partner, IUCN relied on its provider's spam-filtering service to keep unwanted email at bay. The solution, which leveraged Symantec Brightmail AntiSpam, was extremely effective; its initial test filtered out 100,000 spam messages over a period of just two months.

But IUCN sought additional protection, particularly for the 150 or so traveling and remote personnel working from narrowband connections in countries that offer only limited Internet access and, often, little security. Like their counterparts at corporate headquarters, these users relied on email every day.

"The one single mission-critical tool in this organization is email," says Dan Hinckley, electronic communications coordinator at IUCN. "Our Web site could fall over for a day or two, and even our file and print services could fail; but if the mail server stops, we start getting calls from Costa Rica and South Africa within ten minutes. And you can imagine, with an organization like IUCN that spans the time zones, email is the one tool everybody uses to keep up-to-date."

For IUCN's remote and traveling users, spam not only threatened their productivity but it also presented a number of security hazards, including exposure to spam-based viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other malicious code.

Of course, augmented spam protection would also benefit the remaining IUCN staff who enjoyed high-bandwidth Internet connections from IUCN headquarters and other offices. These users would also reap productivity benefits from seeing further reductions in unwanted messages that dotted their inboxes.

The Solution

CGNET had an innovative solution. They discovered that by leveraging two separate spam-fighting technologies, the volume of spam could be significantly reduced. To the superior spam-filtering technology of Symantec Brightmail AntiSpam, CGNET combined the unique spam-routing technology of Symantec TurnTide AntiSpam Router, now a Symantec solution since Symantec's acquisition of TurnTide in July 2004.

Symantec Brightmail Anti-Spam uses more than 20 different filtering technologies to identify and catch spam, with a capture rate at 95 percent and an accuracy rate of 99.9999 percent. Support from Symantec's Probe Network and globally distributed Symantec Security Response infrastructure add further layers of defense.

The Symantec TurnTide AntiSpam Router works by preventing spam from getting into the corporate network. It identifies spam by its routing information, slowing and limiting the flow of mail from suspected spam domains and, in turn, discouraging further communication from spammers. Because the router does not filter or block messages, it also cannot delete or quarantine a legitimate message, which eliminates the risk of false positives.

The result is a noticeable improvement in spam control as the combined solution filters out 99 percent of unwanted messages. "As soon as the new combined system was in place, we saw a 50 percent drop in the number of spams we received weekly," explains Hinckley. "For our remote users especially, this made a big difference in terms of productivity and security gains.

"It's the same for our IT staff," he continues. "This reduction in spam has also cut the amount of time we have to spend looking at logs, non-delivery receipts, and antivirus reports. What's more, we're also seeing reduced loads on our Microsoft Exchange server as more spam is routed out before reaching us, as well as on our backup system as there are fewer unwanted messages getting backed up automatically every night.

"Needless to say," Hinckley concludes, "we're very happy with our spam protection."

The Symantec Brightmail AntiSpam and TurnTide AntiSpam technologies are now available in new email security appliances from Symantec. CGNET continues to offer the combined technologies in a hosted solution.