NetSpective Case Studies

TeleMate.Net Software's NetSpective® Provides Reliable, Cost-Effective Internet Content Management to TRX

The Opportunity

Online booking of reservations has increased dramatically over the past ten years. About 400 million passengers now book their flights over the Internet each year, according to SITA Information Networking Computing. At the same time, Internet identity theft and other security breeches have risen dramatically, while at the same time organizations are constantly searching for new ways to mitigate security risks created by Skype and other P2P applications.

TRX, Inc., headquartered in Atlanta with employees around the globe, is a leading provider of transaction processing for the global travel industry. The company is responsible for vast numbers of complex data records and in 2004, it handled 73.5 million travel transactions. TRX interfaces with industries involved with online reservations, such as credit card companies, with some of the largest financial services companies relying on TRX-hosted technology and services to manage travel and travel-related transactions.

Ensuring privacy and opacity with each transaction is of paramount importance to TRX. To optimize its data security and protect clients' transactional information, TRX must provide a comprehensive, fail-safe filtering device. With the increase of Internet theft, the ability to protect personal and financial information has become mission critical. Additionally, TRX's complex network infrastructure required a device that seamlessly integrates into existing network architecture. Finally, TRX needed a solution that would also help manage agents' Internet usage appropriately and use company resources more efficiently.

The Solution

Adam Ely, Team Lead, Information Security, TRX, spearheaded the search for an Internet content management solution, seeking the most easily configurable and scalable solution on the market to address specific client and employee needs. After a thorough audit of the options, together with third-party security auditors from 780 Inc., TRX determined TeleMate.Net Software to be their top choice. "NetSpective was much easier to use than the competitors' offerings," Ely noted. "Additionally, the biggest selling point was the pass-by technology so that it was not a single point of failure in our network."

The wide range of features available on the NetSpective box was also a selling point. NetSpective provides clients with the ability to scan HTTPS, block Skype, Peer-2-Peer (P2P) messaging, streaming media and instant messaging which increasingly cause congestion on internal networks and degrade service for other critical applications. It is the most comprehensive array of network optimization and content management options currently available for enterprises to selectively disable undesirable network traffic and monitor network usage.

Fail-safe reliability was also key. The Tolly Group, an independent source for IT certification, research and testing, has validated NetSpective's ability to accurately filter several applications, including Skype version 1.4.0.48 and the most recently introduced version 2.0.0.43. "We are held to a variety of stringent mandates due to our business. As a publicly traded company we must comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, in addition to other privacy regulations such as HIPPA. We are audited for accounting standards, and must be in compliance with a variety of other international regulations including EU, UK, and Germany privacy acts," Ely explains.

"We are also held to a subset of banking laws as mandated by our clients. Our clients are the largest financial institutions in the world, and we feel confident that we can protect confidential data, in part through our relationship with TeleMate.Net Software," he added.

The Results

Since implementing the solution in 2001, TRX has safeguarded against the release of information outside the company. Additionally, the company now has protection from Skype, which has introduced to network security administrators a host of security issues, as it by passes firewalls, allows for undetectable communications, and opens the network up to hackers, viruses, worms and other liabilities.

"Overall, since choosing NetSpective we have seen increased productivity via the blocking of instant messaging and webmail, which also helps control the flow of information so that confidential information does not leave our organization," said Ely.

"Additionally, emerging threats, such as Skype, are consistently addressed in each new NetSpective upgrade," Ely explained. "NetSpective has been extremely effective - it helps us control the flow of information and reduce risks."