December 25, 2006
Cisco SMB Partner United Technology Group Deploys Network Security
for Savannah River Plant Federal Credit Union


AT A GLANCE
A third-party security audit of a credit union's network found some inefficiencies in the organization's existing security solution. The credit union wanted network security that would stand up to the highest level of scrutiny, so Cisco SMB Select Partner, United Technology Group (UTG) designed and deployed a Cisco security solution that reached out to all 18 branch offices as well as the credit union's 42 ATMs.
Today, Savannah River Plant Federal Credit Union can assure its members that it has in place the highest level of network
security possible.

MORE INFORMATION
Since its founding in 1960, Savannah River Plant (SRP) Federal Credit Union has been dedicated to its members. Today it serves as the financial institution for over 84,000 members through its 18 branch offices and 42 ATMs throughout South Carolina and Georgia. It has 250 employees and provides savings programs, checking accounts, competitive loan options, and a variety of other convenient services tailored to fit members' needs.

As a financial institution, SRP undergoes rigorous security audits for regulatory compliance. With regulatory requirements changing in the marketplace and what it felt were some inefficiencies in its existing network security solution, the credit union engaged with a third-party to perform a complete assessment and audit.

"The recommendation of the independent audit firm fit well with our technology vision which included a security posture that would stand up to the highest level of scrutiny," says Clifford Rushton, vice president of IT for SRP. "We wanted quicker updates to our PCs, and we wanted to beef up our internal security including compliance requirements and authentication for employees who, for instance, wanted to log into the network from home."

Independent Audit Recommends Beefed-Up Security from Cisco
SRP already had Cisco networking technology in place, including Cisco WAN to support IP telephony and some centralized applications. Rushton and his team collectively evaluated many products and in the end they followed the recommendation of their technology solution vendor, which named Cisco security products as the overall best-of-breed solution. To help realize its network security vision, SRP turned to United Technology Group (UTG), a Cisco SMB Select Partner. UTG took a managed services approach to designing the solution, proposing that after designing and deploying the security solution, it would continue to maintain the system and provide monitoring and reporting functions which would help SRP meet its security objectives and requirements.

"We provided a proactive approach to security for SRP," says Brian Miller, COO of UTG. "We could set up automatic alerts and scheduled reports that would provide them with a lot of information, and also an executive summary that would point out any vulnerabilities or anything affecting the scalability or functionality of the network."

UTG recommended a Cisco ASA firewall with IPS module, a Cisco 4215 IPS Sensor, Cisco Security MARS (Monitoring, Analysis and Response System), VMS (VPN Security Management Solution) and managed services from UTG for ongoing monitoring and support. The Cisco security solution would encompass all SRP branch locations, as well as all of its ATM machines. UTG would also implement third party content filtering, spyware, spamware, and the items necessary for overall monitoring of the network. For authentication, UTG recommended Cisco ACS. SRP had previously implemented ACS for VPN accounting purposes, and existing ACS integrated perfectly with all of the new security elements. The authentication functions of ACS were extended to all of the Cisco routers as well.

Cisco Partner Plans Meticulous Security Deployment
"The credit union is their members and the member assets that they control, so we treated that member relationship with the utmost priority" says Miller. "We did a well-planned, very controlled deployment during regular maintenance windows so there would be no problems when we came back online with the new security system." UTG's planning included its standard project methodology of thorough discussions at the discovery and planning phase to ensure needs, goals and expectations were all agreed upon. Equipment was planned and configured in the UTG lab, and a Cisco security specialist was available for questions. At that time the Cisco Security MARS component was new, so Cisco engineers again were available to review UTG's configurations against SRP's business needs. The solution was rolled out in a controlled manner in order to have the most minimal impact possible on credit union members and employees. By working closely with the credit union's IT team, UTG
could ensure a solid knowledge transfer.

"We're very sensitive to changes of this nature and how it can affect a business, its employees, and its customers," notes Miller. "The biggest challenge was carried by the credit union which had to coordinate with us, their mainframe product and their carrier and learn the new security products. We provided comprehensive Day 2 support so the credit union's IT staff would have full backing if they needed it."

Rushton concurs.

"As a financial institution we cannot just go in and change or update our security," he says. "We have to interface with our ISP, with the Federal Reserve organization, and coordinate everyone getting on the same page with us so they knew what we were doing and why." The entire project took about three weeks to fully rollout in a phased approach. Miller credits the mutually developed project plan and the flexibility of Cisco technology for the deployment success.

UTG depends on Cisco TAC (Technical Assistance Center) to help learn new products and tweak solutions, and considers it an ongoing partner. UTG utilized Cisco TAC for the final configuration and deployment at SRP, and during management processes to ensure the products were running optimally and tuned in to SRP's specific needs.

Cisco Security Delivers Peace of Mind to Credit Union Officers
Today, SRP Federal Credit Union has in place the highest level of security possible. "When you read and hear about the kinds of things that happen to financial institutions, such as systems being compromised from the outside and data and member records being lost and possibly stolen, that causes an enormous amount of concern," says Rushton. "We wanted to do everything possible to make sure we have the very best security in place for our members."

Rushton is not alone in his desire to optimize his network security. According to Miller UTG's security and managed services business has risen 30 percent in the last year. And with over half of its business focused on the SMB market, the company is closely tuned into the specific needs of those businesses.

"Many of our SMB clients are moving to a managed services rather than a fixed solution approach," says Miller. "Our client base is really moving away from reacting to network problems and towards a more proactive IT approach. They want a managed service solution that lets them know what's going on with their network, and which allows issues to be addressed and fixed before they become real problems.