Meeting Security Requirements for Supermarket Chain Customers
In 1888, two teenage boys opened a grocery store in New York City using all of their savings. This gas-lit, scrupulously neat and clean retail store was located at 42nd Street and Second Avenue. In those days, this location was far uptown, as the big shopping centers were downtown. Today, with 35 stores in Manhattan, two in Westchester County and one in Long Island, Gristedes stores offer fresh meats, produce, dairy products, baked goods, frozen foods, gourmet foods, and nonfood items.
In 1998, Gristedes began protecting its network with eSoft’s InstaGate Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliance. It had chosen eSoft over some of the industry’s leading vendors, including IronPort and others.
“Having a good firewall has always been of the utmost importance to us,” said Don Winant, CIO for the supermarket chain. “Especially now with all of the Payment Card Industry rules and regulations, we need a frontline defense for constantly scanning our network — complete network security is crucial. eSoft has handled everything well since we implemented more than ten years ago. While we did look at IronPort, eSoft had a much friendlier and adaptable interface.”
Gristedes has deployed eSoft’s InstaGate Security Gateway solution with Anti-Spam capabilities and Intrusion Prevention. InstaGate, which utilizes a high-performance Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) Firewall and IPSec VPN architecture, offers unparalleled protection from dynamic, content-based threats that elude traditional firewalls. eSoft’s SoftPak Director™ subscription management provides the supermarket chain with unmatched flexibility and responsiveness with the ability to add new security applications, as well as instantly and easily receive ongoing updates and malware signatures.
Preventing Intrusions and Malware
The InstaGate’s Intrusion Prevention System keeps hackers outside the network. This protects the confidential financial, personal, and corporate information that is present on the supermarket chain’s servers and in customer databases from potential identity thieves. The InstaGate automatically logs attacks for reporting analysis and optionally alerts an administrator when there’s an attack of interest or evidence of an infected laptop. The InstaGate’s self-updating features mean that it is always updated with the latest signatures for blocking new and emerging attacks. In addition, policy controls allow Gristedes administrators to block instand messaging
and peer-to-peer applications.
“We have network penetration testing done quarterly, and the InstaGate does a great job,” said Winant. “Our network contains confidential employee and customer data that we must protect fully, and with eSoft we’re confident it is secure.”
In addition, eSoft’s gateway anti-virus features one of the largest databases of known virus signatures, providing protection for Gristedes from viruses, worms and Trojans in virtually any traffic type. Both outbound and inbound traffic is scanned to stop infected content from entering or leaving the Gristedes network. Finally, eSoft’s SpamFilter improves employee productivity for Gristedes and reduces liability and mail server load by filtering unsolicited and inappropriate email before it enters the network. Spam is automatically rejected, quarantined, redirected or tagged for filtered delivery later (depending on the administrator’s choice).
eSoft offers a robust set of administrative and maintenance features that allow IT managers to implement a sophisticated security solution without extensive training or time investments. eSoft’s security applications are designed to be enabled with a simple click of the mouse and configured in a matter of minutes, and they provide immediate protection with continuous, automatic updates — without administration.
“Protection from hackers and viruses is important, but the eSoft SpamFilter is also great, keeping our employees productive,” said Winant. “Anti-virus keeps the network healthy, the firewall prevents intrusions, and above all, confidential data, and sensitive employee and consumer credit card info is safe. The beauty of eSoft is that it just works. We’re a very small staff of support people and that’s more than enough because eSoft just works.”
