Networking Integrator Saves Fortune 500 Company From Computer Virus

When the SQL Slammer/Sapphire Worm raced through the Internet striking vulnerable ports in January 2003, it wreaked havoc worldwide and caused an estimated $1 billion in damage. But one Fortune 500 company, with more than 100 process control networks across the globe, remained unscathed thanks to firewall technology.

Kris Zupan, CEO/CTO of systems integrator e-DMZ Security (Wilmington, DE), credits network segmentation and 75 CyberGuard (Fort Lauderdale, FL) FS250 firewalls with protecting his customer. e-DMZ deployed the firewall/VPN (virtual private network) appliances, segmented the networks based on risk, and then provided 24/7 event management and production support through e-DMZ's Co-Managed Firewall Service.

The system proved its value on Jan. 25, 2003. Within two minutes of the Slammer attack, e-DMZ was able to query the Fortune 500 company's entire environment and determine none of the firewalls was allowing access through the affected port.

One day later, CyberGuard's logging capability and e-DMZ's automation capability enabled the company to identify any infected hosts on its intranet so the IT team could resolve any issues. Of the 30 process control networks subjected to Slammer attacks, CyberGuard firewalls denied more than 1,200 packets (units of data). More importantly, at least one site was using a system that could not be patched, and the firewall protected the system so there were no disruptions.