Case study - National Theatre

The National Theatre in London is home to hundreds of performances and artistic events and is a regular haunt for thousands of visitors throughout the year. Employing over 900 staff, the theatre was concerned about the security of its network and required an automated vulnerability scanning and patch management solution that would close any loopholes and also ensure they are in line with all compliance regulations. The solution had to be easy to use, full-featured and well-priced to their needs. Having used GFI products before, IT Security Manager, Richard Bevan opted to install GFI LanGuard to protect against any security threats and to remain compliant with legislation.

Challenges

The National Theatre in London is a popular cultural location for UK and overseas visitors and is host to a wide range of theatre productions, art exhibitions and music concerts. In order to run such a large operation successfully, the theatre employs over 900 people; backed up by a relatively large network, IT procedures, updates and security are managed through a central location as much as possible.

With such a large staff and with the responsibility of one of the city’s most important venues, security is a top priority for the IT staff. Alongside that, the theatre must also follow strict compliance regulations.

In order to push out patches as soon as they are made available and to lessen the security risks, Mr. Bevan wanted a vulnerability scanning and patch management solution that comprised “ease of use, product features and an affordable pricing structure.”

He looked at some alternatives such as “some of the Open Source Products i.e. nmap” before deciding to implement GFI LanGuard. Having used other GFI products previously, Mr. Bevan knew that GFI’s solutions are priced within the budgets of SMBs yet without compromising on the quality or level of features.

Implementation

GFI LanGuard fitted the bill and its performance met the expectations of the National Theatre; Mr. Bevan said the product is “easy to install and simple to understand without documentation or training. It also provides clear and straightforward management reporting. And it integrates well with our Windows Network”.

GFI LanGuard helped the National Theatre with their PCI Compliance as it was “used for internal scans, patch management and internal resolution and sanity check for other PCI Scans. It is also an effective vulnerability management tool.”

“From a management perspective we used it for identifying rogue devices and patch management solution (to apply critical patches outside of normal patch management cycles)” said Mr. Bevan. “Its Report Pack provides good management information and high-level summaries.”

Meanwhile on the technology front it “has allowed us to identify Software Compliance issues and to enable supplementary Patch Management Solutions.”

Mr. Bevan concluded that financially, GFI LanGuard had been a “cost-effective solution for internal PCI Compliance”.

Benefits

GFI LanGuard proved to be the solution that the National Theatre was looking for in terms of cost, efficiency and effectiveness. The implementation of this solution helped them put their minds at ease that they were meeting as compliance regulations whilst also keeping the network secure in a low-maintenance manner.

GFI LanGuard is “cost effective and easy to use and although results were not immediate they have formed part of our overall solution to meet compliance requirements,” said Mr. Bevan.

Maintaining the network of the National Theatre secure was much easier thanks to GFI LanGuard and “it saved us time by providing us with an internal security testing tool, rather than [using] less automated processes.”

Target reached

“GFI LanGuard has enabled us to provide information to form part of our PCI Compliance and Data Protection Programmes. Projects are still both under way but have led to successful completion of various stages in each project.”

Links

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