U.K. MSP Protects and Manages Clients’ Networks with NG Firewall and Command Center

Background

Craig Sharp founded Abussi Ltd. in 1995 to help businesses throughout the United Kingdom with all things IT-related, including endpoint protection, internet security and firewalls. By acting as a managed service provider (MSP), Abussi provides organizations a sense of peace knowing their network and IT infrastructure is under constant supervision, allowing them to focus on core business strategies.

Sharp first learned about Untangle in 2008 and immediately was intrigued by the ease of use and flexibility it offered him and his clients. As a downloadable software solution, Abussi can install NG Firewall on their own hardware and effectively test at each client site to ensure seamless deployment. “Other comparable products only cover the basics for network security, with other elements requiring additional investment of either hardware or services to get a complete solution.” said Sharp. NG Firewall is an all-in-one network security solution that makes it easy for network administrators and MSPs to install, configure and deploy.

Technology Solution

NG Firewall provides complete control, Layer 7 visibility and management to both Abussi and its clients; it provides a comprehensive solution for content filtering, malware and threat protection, secure Wi-Fi, application control, bandwidth optimization, and virtual private networks. Abussi has been able to implement NG Firewall at 12 of its clients sites. “Many of our clients have little to no experience in network security, so we generally start off with the trial version of NG Firewall to gain visibility on the network and run reports to show the gaps that could be fixed,” said Sharp. “As soon as a breach, slow bandwidth, or a virus hits, we immediately have that tough conversation that, with the Complete package, this pain point could have been avoided and easily remedied.”

Abussi has been able to help many clients after a breach or incident has occured. For example, one construction company client with about 15 people suffered an breach when a click-happy employee clicked on a phishing email and inadvertently entered their Office 365 credentials. Once the company realized what had happened, they immediately notified Abussi to help remediate the issue. While Abussi was able to mitigate the issue, Sharp pointed out that if NG Firewall Complete had been filtering all traffic, the email would never have surfaced. The construction company has since purchased the Complete package and has yet to have another phishing/spam issue.

Untangle has a brilliant product ideal for MSPs looking for a cost-effective solution for their SME customers.

Often, businesses are spread across multiple locations and need a way for the networks to communicate with each other. With NG Firewall, Abussi can easily link each site via a secure tunnel, ensuring traffic is fully encrypted. For example, one client has 2 locations spread across the U.K., in Cambridge and Swindon (about 100 miles part) with 60 users at each site. The client needed the sites to be connected while ensuring traffic was secure in transit. With OpenVPN and Policy Manager, Abussi was able to create a secure tunnel with a NG Firewall instance at each location and enforce granular rules to ensure business-critical applications are given priority.

Other clients battle with maintaining bandwidth for business critical applications. With NG Firewall filtering all traffic, Abussi is able to provide clients with reports detailing where their bandwidth is being utilized and create rules to control when users can access certain sites. For example, one client noticed through the reports that employees were constantly on Facebook and other social media websites. With Web Filter and Policy Manager, Abussi was able to easily limit employee access to Facebook only during lunch hours. With NG Firewall, Abussi can configure policies not just by day and time but also by user.

Another client noticed the bandwidth had been continuously deteriorating and had Abussi take a closer look. Upon reviewing reports, Abussi was able to determine that almost 50% of the internet traffic was being utilized by an app that did not relate to the business. With Application Control, Abussi quickly cut off access, immediately improving bandwidth and keeping employees on task and productive.

Remote Management

As an MSP, it is crucial to be readily available for any IT emergency clients might encounter. Untangle’s cloud-based management solution, Command Center, provides Abussi with complete visibility and control over all its clients, no matter where they are. “If a client calls us up in the middle of the night with an issue, I can simply remote access into their appliance from my computer or tablet and fix the issue within a few clicks,” said Sharp. Command Center integrates seamlessly with NG Firewall to provide global insights, alerting, management, remote login and reporting. Further, Abussi is able to create and push policies across sites without having to physically be at the location.