Library Leans on NG Firewall for CIPA Compliance

Burley Public Library

Industry:  Public Library

Network Size:   80 computers including desktops and laptops for both librarian and public use, as well as up to 200 daily patrons accessing the guest Wi-Fi.

“I have been very pleased with Untangle NG Firewall. The new Dashboard is awesome.”

Background

Burley Public Library was built in 1922 and has grown to hold over 45,000 assets. Located in the City of Burley, Idaho, the library serves both the Cassia County and Minidoka County population of over 40,000 residents. Gerald Thaxton has been responsible for information technology at the library for the last seventeen years and has been in the IT industry for over forty years.

CIPA Compliance

Schools are not the only institutions that have to comply with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA); libraries are held accountable as well. CIPA is a U.S. regulation mandating that children must be protected from inappropriate and dangerous internet content. The Burley Public Library, therefore, must monitor internet usage and ensure children are not accessing prohibited media while at the library. To meet CIPA requirements, organizations must turn to secure web gateway solutions that enable monitoring, reporting, and the ability to set granular access policies.

While looking for a solution that could help meet CIPA requirements and fit within the tight budget of a public library, Thaxton found Untangle NG Firewall. “Since Untangle offers a free trial of NG Firewall, it was an easy decision to try the product in our environment’”, said Thaxton. “I downloaded and tested the applications for a week. I was so delighted with how easy NG Firewall was to install and run, and how well it met the filtering needs of the library, that I ordered two u50 appliances.”

Deploying Untangle

The Untangle u50 is a smaller, desktop appliance designed specifically for the needs of smaller organizations. The library choose to segment its guest and employee networks by deploying one u50 for each. Both units are deployed in transparent bridge mode, meaning NG Firewall is set in between the existing library firewalls and the main switch. “We rely on Web Filter, SSL Inspector and Application Control. These apps work together to give us complete visibility into and control over every type of traffic that we see on our network, even if it’s encrypted. This is key to maintaining our CIPA compliance,” said Thaxton.

SSL Inspector fully decrypts SMTP and HTTPS traffic, allowing Web Filter to block or flag sites based on type of content (i.e., pornography, gambling) and Application Control to block based on the application type (i.e., Bittorrent, Facebook). Along with Policy Manager, these NG Firewall apps work in concert to define and enforce policies, giving Thaxton peace of mind.

“I’ve found that with Untangle NG Firewall, I can rest assured knowing that the our CIPA compliance needs are met and that the network is fully protected from any threat that may arise. The setup is straightforward, and the reporting is robust,” said Thaxton. “Any organization looking for a solution that can do everything, at an affordable price, should be checking out Untangle.”