NET WORK SECURIT Y

Associated Foreign Exchange, Inc. Case Study

Associated Foreign Exchange, Inc. (AFEX) offers a comprehensive range of international payment and foreign exchange services, including foreign currency drafts, wire transfers, risk management tools and designated corporate account managers. AFEX is the fastest growing top-tier independent commercial foreign exchange provider in each of the markets in which it operates.
The Organization Associated Foreign Exchange 16133 Ventura Blvd., Ste. 900 Encino, CA 91436 www.afex.com The Challenge n Protecting the network from increased threats n Controlling network bottlenecks from video downloads n Compliance with regulatory mandates n Reducing complexity and limitations on security features The SonicWALL Solution n SonicWALL NSA E6500 n SonicWALL NSA E5500 n SonicWALL Aventail SRA EX7000 n SonicWALL CDP 6080 n SonicWALL Global Management System The Results n Secure network optimization n Drill-down visibility n Increased productivity n Regulatory compliance The SonicWALL Benefits n Application Intelligence and Control with real-time Visualization n Reassembly-Free Deep Packet Inspection n Content filtering, intrusion prevention, and comprehensive malware protection

The challenge: securely optimizing the network amid rapid business expansion Since 2003, the global company has grown rapidly, with a ten-fold increase in its United Kingdom business, expansion to the East Coast of the United States, and new operations in Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. Further expansion into Asia and Europe is planned for the coming months. Our main business concern is protection from threats, said Jaime Bolanos, IT manager at AFEX. The volume of threats is growing all the time. Previously, AFEX had used Cisco PIX firewalls, but found they were ineffective for their needs. It was more difficult to work with Cisco, Bolanos divulged. The content filtering was more cumbersome, and did not include all the features we wanted. We lacked in-depth visibility into our network. The companys salespeople rely on voice and data over the Internet to communicate with prospects and clients around the clock. Were trying to save money using the network more effectively, asserted Bolanos. If the Internet is slow, employees cant do their jobs, and that affects their productivity and our business. We needed to optimize our traffic in better ways. AFEX also must maintain compliance with regulatory mandates. Different locations have different licensing requirements and regulations, said Bolanos. Were required by the regulators to have the best possible product in the market. Additionally, video downloads created network bottlenecks and affected throughput. Some employees were downloading non-work related videos which impacted the companys bandwidth and efficiency of all employees, reported Bolanos. It is mission-critical for us to have full visibility into our application traffic and understand how bandwidth is being used. Bolanos required a solution that would increase security and visibility, and reduce complexity in the AFEX environment. The solution: SonicWALL E-Class NSA, GMS, Aventail Secure Remote Access and CDP Today, AFEX has implemented a comprehensive SonicWALL solution by utilizing multiple product lines. AFEX has deployed four SonicWALL E-Class Network Security Appliance (NSA) E6500, four NSA E5500 and 12 NSA 2400 Next-Generation Firewalls. The NSA Series provides AFEX

Associated Foreign Exchange (AFEX) Case Study

with breakthrough performance, application intelligence and control with real-time visualization, content filtering, intrusion prevention and comprehensive malware protection. My experience with SonicWALL has been very good, asserted Bolanos. Not only have we not had any issues with anybody breaking into our network, but the performance has also been outstanding.

We can monitor traffic from one person or the whole company, remarked Bolanos. Now I can see the performance of the network, determine if were using too much power, or whether applications are using too much bandwidth. This wasnt possible before. Visualization enables Bolanos to make informed strategic decisions about whether he needs to get more bandwidth or just optimize the bandwidth he has.

In addition, the company has implemented a SonicWALL Aventail E-Class Secure Remote Access (SRA) EX7000 appliance, SonicWALL boosts our productivity, acknowledged Bolanos. a SonicWALL Continuous Data Protection (CDP) 6080 backup We block web video traffic, throttle Flash applications, as well and disaster recovery appliance and a as prioritize voice and other critical SonicWALL Global Management network traffic. System (GMS) Virtual Appliance. The The SonicWALL solution also helps SRA EX7000 offers AFEX a clientless AFEX maintain compliance with SSL VPN solution that delivers secure, regulatory mandates. easy remote access. CDP protects the companys servers, laptops and PCs When the regulators come to the with a unique technology that can office, they ask about provisioning back up data locally in real-time for intrusion prevention and anti-virus instant recovery and offsite for on our firewall, related Bolanos. disaster recovery. GMS lets Bolanos They have actually told us our globally manage, monitor, and report SonicWALL solution has been doing on all of the companys SonicWALL a good job. Jaime Bolanos, IT Manager appliances. Associated Foreign Exchange AFEX is building a new data center The result: secure network which requires 10 Gbps connectivity. optimization, increased The company is evaluating the productivity and regulatory SonicWALL E8510, a multi-core compliance next-generation firewall designed for enterprise networks The main thing for me is the depth of visibility and granular requiring full deep packet inspection protection and application control, declared Bolanos. We are saving money because were control without compromising performance. optimizing our users bandwidth. The NSA E8510 will give me 10 Gbps throughput at the data AFEX has implemented SonicWALL Application Intelligence and center, affirmed Bolanos. Control with real-time Visualization on its SonicWALL firewalls. Bolanos uses the SonicWALL Application Flow Monitor to track bandwidth and application traffic throughout the organization.

the depth of visibility and granular control.

We are saving money because were optimizing our users bandwidth.

The main thing for me is

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