Tecnun Secures Its Digital Campus with Check Point Next Generation Threat Prevention

Since it was established in 1961, Tecnun has maintained a balance between teaching, research and its contribution to society. Tecnun has two campuses in San Sebastián—the Ibaeta District and the Miramón Technology Park. Both campuses focus on the teaching and research of mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, telecommunications, electrical and energy engineering and biomedical engineering.

Boost Perimeter Protection and Simplify Security Management

“The progressive and unstoppable transition to a digital university, where students and teachers increasingly depend on the internet, the rise of social networks, increased voice and video traffic and the migration of applications and services to the cloud were pushing our network infrastructure to its limits and the time had come to make a decision,” explains Enrique Reina, Head of IT at the University of Navarra Technology Campus in San Sebastián.

“Like all organizations of a certain size, we were being targeted by numerous attacks of all kinds,” adds Enrique Reina. “We had been implementing solutions from different vendors that provided partial coverage. Security management had become highly complex, with a requirement to simultaneously manage and monitor various sites. We didn’t have the capacity to correlate or analyze all the information generated by the various protection systems in place.”

Complete and Effective Security

 “The best way forward was to redesign our perimeter security to ensure adequate protection against the new security challenges and advances in technology,” explains Reina. “After discussing our needs with various security vendors, we chose Check Point – with whom we have worked for over 20 years – whom we felt stood out from the crowd. In just three days, the Check Point team performed a full Security CheckUp, showing us our risks and vulnerabilities and allowing us to view network activity in real time. Just one week after the CheckUp, working in partnership with Telefónica Solutions, Check Point provided a full demo installation that allowed us to see the solution they proposed.”

Tecnun decided to replace equipment from other vendors and consolidate its entire network protection with Check Point, installing a high availability cluster of devices on each campus. At the Miramón campus, which employs about 90 teachers and researchers and around 200 students, two Check Point 4600 appliances with Next Generation Threat Prevention (NGTP) were selected. In Ibaeta, where 300 people work and more than 800 students study, two Check Point 12200 appliances were installed, as well as the management console and Next-Generation SmartEvent.

“The Next-Generation Check Point appliances are completely different from the pure firewalls we used before. They have evolved into a full security platform with an advanced range of features, including safe browsing, secure email, URL filtering, antivirus, protection from intrusions, anti-bot protection, mobile access and application control, and all this in a single appliance,” explains Reina. “Instead of having various independent applications, the Check Point Next-Generation SmartEvent console offers a single view and unified management of campus security.”

Integrated Solution and Full Visibility

The Check Point 4600 NGTP devices installed by Tecnun provide a solution that protects and prevents against the increasing number of sophisticated attacks that are now common. Check Point helps Tecnun guarantee safe and reliable internet access, which is crucial, enabling easy migration of services and applications to the cloud. This has helped Tecnun create network segmentation between different VLAN networks that provide services to numerous groups, classrooms and departments. It also supports the use of VoIP within other parts of the university and external communication suppliers, as well as facilitating the secure use of video conferencing.

“Our Wi-Fi network is now the biggest source of the security issues we face. We’re experiencing connectivity peaks of up to 1,300 devices on a daily basis,” explains Reina. “The proliferation of smartphones, tablets and laptops on campus, with many students making intensive use of multiple devices, requires extremely high connection capacity and control technology.

“In addition to providing more robust and comprehensive perimeter protection, the Check Point Next-Generation Threat Prevention solution also has the advantage of being easier to use. We can now view traffic and have access to information we didn’t have before, for both internal and external activity, meaning we can react quicker and make decisions on the spot. We can fix problems without users ever being aware of their existence,” remarks Reina.

“Moreover, the security management console allows our IT department to define the desired service and security level for each group (students, teachers and support staff) and categorize what they have access to and how they can access it.

“Check Point was the natural choice. We have had an excellent relationship with the company for over 20 years and our technical department is extremely satisfied with its solutions. The ability to combine all the security features we need in a single product for protection and management was decisive,” concludes Enrique Reina.

For more information, visit www.checkpoint.com/products-solutions/threat-prevention-appliances-and-software/