Jim Clark, WLU’s Chief Information Technology Officer
ANAHEIM, Calif., Oct. 17, 2013 – OpenDNS, the world’s leading provider of cloud-delivered Web security services, today announced that West Liberty University is using Umbrella by OpenDNS to protect faculty, academic researchers and students from malware and botnets.
“Since we deployed OpenDNS, our network administrator responsible for security has spent zero time on malware and botnet remediation,” said James (Jim) Clark, Chief Information Technology Officer of West Liberty University. “Instead of disinfecting machines, we are able to implement and manage an array of leading-edge programs, applications and services that support students, classrooms and faculty research. OpenDNS Umbrella has paid for itself many times over.”
The University selected the Umbrella secure cloud gateway to replace a cumbersome and ineffective appliance-based solution. Since deploying Umbrella, infections and malware clean-up efforts have been virtually eliminated.
WLU has a small, efficient, Information Technology Services team, charged with providing computing, telecommunication and help desk services for 2,800 students and approximately 430 faculty and staff. One of the biggest benefits of the cloud-based Umbrella solution is that it provides campus wide protection against cyber security threats for any device connecting to the wired and wireless networks, yet it can be managed by a single IT administrator, according to the provider.
Powerful, Predictive Security
According to Clark, a recent botnet infection that required the quarantine and extensive disinfection of many machines was a “wake up call” for the university. He decided to replace the existing hardware-based security gateway with a centralized campus-wide solution that does not add any latency to network resources. Clark chose Umbrella by OpenDNS for its unique ability to use big data and predictive analytics to block threats before they enter the network.
“Umbrella provides a fine-grained data filter between us and the bad guys wanting to take us down. It keeps us protected from the nasty malware and botnets,” Clark said.
Open, Secure and Reliable
OpenDNS enables West Liberty University to maintain a secure, yet open network. The campus provides ubiquitous Wi-Fi and since 2007 has been re-tooling its information architecture for cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) applications such as Google Apps. OpenDNS protects the school’s entire infrastructure and has provided bulletproof uptime.
“OpenDNS has never been down at all, which speaks volumes for the way they have architected Umbrella,” said Clark. “Even Google mail has had outages in the past, which shows just how industrial strength the Umbrella cloud security service is.”
“Universities face a great challenge in maintaining network security on a typically open environment supporting a diverse group of users and devices,” said David Ulevitch, CEO of OpenDNS. “We’re proud to deliver OpenDNS Umbrella as a solution because it stops infections campus-wide without slowing down the network, burdening users, or introducing the privacy concerns of deep-packet inspection appliances.”
About OpenDNS
OpenDNS is the world’s leading provider of Internet security and DNS services, enabling the world to connect to the Internet with confidence on any device, anywhere, anytime. OpenDNS provides millions of businesses, schools and households with a safer, faster and more intelligent Internet experience by protecting them from malicious Web threats and providing them control over how users navigate the Internet, while dramatically increasing the network’s overall performance and reliability. The company’s cloud-delivered Umbrella security service protects enterprise users from malware, botnets and phishing regardless of location or device. At the heart of all OpenDNS services is the OpenDNS Global Network, the world’s largest Internet-wide security network, securing 50 million active users daily through 20 data centers worldwide. For more information, please visit: www.opendns.com.