Antenne Radio
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Antenne Radio Uses Lumension® Device Control to Protect Against Data Threats |
Despite the numerous digital revolutions of recent years, radio, the oldest of the "new media", continues to retain its popularity. On average Germans listen to the radio for three hours and 19 minutes every day and one in every three Germans listens at least once a day. These figures are taken from the latest study (ma 2006 Radio II) carried out by non-profit organisation Media-Analyse e.V., which shows that radio is the most popular form of background entertainment. Although listening figures have remained constant over the years, behind the scenes things have been changing.
Until the 1990s radio broadcasting involved moving a lot of physical items around. For example, tapes and records had to be taken out of the archives and prepared for broadcasting, as the music came from analogue sources, which was often obvious to the listener. Nowadays everything is digital. This includes not only the programme preparations, but also the broadcasts themselves, which are almost always computer-based. However, this results not only in improvements in efficiency and sound quality, but also in increased risks from viruses and worms, for example.
In order to combat these threats and to ensure problem-free operation with no downtime, Antenne Radio, the most popular private radio station in Baden-Württemberg, has chosen Lumension® Device Control.
Non-stop Hits
With approximately one million listeners every day, Antenne Radio is the most successful private radio station in south-west Germany. The company's 100 plus employees, based in four locations (Stuttgart, Reutlingen, Heilbronn and Pforzheim), provide listeners with access to the most recent news, up-to-date traffic reports and music that ranges from 1980s classics through to the latest hits. The station is characterised by its excellent sense of humour and openness.
But for Thomas Schwärzer, network and system administrator at Antenne Radio GmbH & Co. KG, that openness does not extend to the IT infrastructure: "We are on air 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A system failure would be a disaster."
While USB ports make day-to-day work easier, they also represent a significant threat to the security of the system, because personal storage media can be used to download undesirable applications or dangerous programs. In addition it is easy for users to copy and remove internal company data. While Antenne Radio wanted to implement controls to prevent unauthorised applications and devices from exposing vulnerabilities, they also did not want to simply block all USB ports as they are needed to connect important, authorised devices to the system. In August 2006, Antenne Radio deployed Lumension® Device Control on all of its 180 computers to provide enable the use of authorised devices.
By employing a whitelist approach, Lumension® Device Control ensures that all authorised devices can be used on the network, while any unauthorised devices not recorded on a central access control list (ACL) are blocked completely. The administrator can specify and assign permissions for specific devices, device classes or individual storage media. "The settings options in Lumension® Device Control are very granular, which allows us to specify exactly who can use a specific device and when," explains Schwärzer. The authorisation is based on existing Active Directory groups. If necessary, the administrator can also allow access to a specific device from one workstation for a limited period of time, without having to change any local settings.
Music To Their Ears
"Although it's really not possible to measure security, we have significantly improved the protection for our systems," says Schwärzer in summary. Even though the status cannot be represented in exact figures, the regular reviews which the company carries out show very positive results. For example, by checking the log files it is possible to determine which non-authorised devices employees tried and failed to access. And the company can be sure that listeners will wake up the next day to "Ostermann & Schatzi", the funniest morning programme in Baden-Württemberg.
Antenne Radio