Manufacturing Group Ends Malware Woes with Untangle; Easily Manages 8 Locations with Command Center

Background

The North American Stamping Group, L.L.C. (NASG) is a metal manufacturing company that supplies the automotive industry with medium-to-high-volume, stamped-metal components and welded assemblies. Based in Portland, Tennessee, NASG has 8 locations spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Ken Stoner is the Corporate IT Manager and oversees all things IT-related for over 700 machines across the 8 locations.

The biggest issue Stoner faced was that their current firewall/router was not proactive in protecting the network. An employee happened to click on an email with a Trickbot URL that lead to every Windows machine being infected. Stoner was only aware of the attack after it had occurred, forcing the IT team to drop everything to remediate the issue. Having no guest Wi-Fi network also started becoming a major headache for Stoner. Customers connecting their mobile devices to the network would quickly max out the number of available IP addresses, causing problems for employees trying to work. These problems led to Stoner searching for a new network security solution.

Technology Solution

Stoner was referred to Untangle by a partner who had seen the benefits of the Untangle solution to other organizations. Untangle’s free trial of NG Firewall allowed Stoner to quickly realize how simple the installation and configuration process was. Stoner is very strict when it comes to network access control and only allows half of the company’s 700 machines to connect. “NG Firewall’s flexibility to restrict and allow access by location, department, and users is a huge asset for my team. We can ensure no one is accessing inappropriate or malicious sites,” said Stoner. After the recent Trickbot attack, blocking threats, viruses and malware is a top concern for Stoner. “We utilize the Firewall, Virus Blocker, Ad Blocker and Web Filter applications to proactively block threats,” said Stoner. “ScoutIQ, Untangle’s cloud-based threat intelligence platform, adds another layer of security, especially against emerging threats. I feel confident knowing Untangle is working in the background to effectively protect the network.”

NG Firewall’s flexibility to restrict and allow access by location, department, and users is a huge asset for my team.

Creating a separate guest network was another requirement for NASG, as the constant stream of customers and guests joining the network continually created problems for employees trying to get their jobs done. “One of the biggest benefits of Untangle was setting up a separate Wi-Fi for guests. By forcing all mobile devices and guests to use a separate network, I can ensure we never run out of IP addresses,” said Stoner. “Creating a segmented network also gives us an additional layer of security, since those BYOD devices are effectively quarantined.” NASG also utilizes the Directory Connector application to track who logs in where, as well as the IPsec VPN application to connect the remote locations.

To seamlessly manage the remote networks at the 8 different locations, Stoner relies on Untangle’s Command Center, a cloud-based centralized management solution. With Command Center, NG Firewall policies can be created on one appliance, then cloned and pushed across other appliances, no matter their locations. “Being able to push policies to the other appliances that are located hundreds of miles away is a huge resource- and time-saver for the IT team,” said Stoner. Command Center also provides global alerts for all NG Firewall deployments. “If an appliance goes offline or a threat is hitting one of our sites, I get alerted right away and can take immediate action.”

NG Firewall has provided Stoner with complete visibility into and control over each of the networks at NASG. When Stoner turned to Untangle for help, he found that their US-based technical support team was ready to assist. “Support is excellent, everyone I’ve talked to is knowledgeable not just about the product, but network configurations and have always been able to provide me with an answer,” said Stoner.