Brisbane Catholic Education deploys Check Point's Quantum firewall

Check Point Software Technologies today announced the full deployment of its Check Point Quantum Network Security by Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE). This cutting-edge firewall gateway aims to bolster the organisation's resilience to cyber attacks, especially data breaches, and avoid any operational disruptions.

With more than 140 schools and 77,000 students, BCE operates the largest non-governmental Microsoft Office 365 tenancy in the Southern Hemisphere and has a vast and dispersed hybrid IT infrastructure. In addition to offering educational services, BCE delivers critical school functions, including library systems, student support, and payroll, within its physical data network.

In an effort to safeguard invaluable student data, personal information, and operational data, BCE sought robust protection strategies for its network and communication links. The decision to deploy the full Check Point Quantum Security Gateways came after recent data breaches were experienced by two significant Australian companies. BCE aims to achieve intricate visibility into data traffic and file attachments, bolstering an already secure infrastructure that supports teaching and learning activities seamlessly.

Tom Nitzschner, Senior IT Officer for BCE, commended the Check Point Quantum Security Gateway cluster for its full threat prevention capabilities, which have now become the security cornerstone of the data centre. By activating Quantum's remote access VPN features, BCE was able to support remote workers during the pandemic while minimising maintenance in a hybrid work environment.

Nitzschner also stated, "Our newly activated Quantum Intrusion and Prevention System (IPS) blade features further optimise BCE's defences against known exploits, vulnerabilities, and protocol misuse." Moreover, BCE has expanded its rule set to align more closely with its data centre environment to combat malicious attachments with Check Point's Sandblast zero-day protection.

The full activation of Quantum's automated features offers improved manageability for BCE's IT team, allowing them to keep pace with emerging vulnerabilities whilst simultaneously minimising manual labour. With these updates, the gateways are regularly fine-tuned, offering the team peace of mind and assurance in their fight against new security malware.

Web traffic filtering is now more manageable, as Nitzschner communicates, with Quantum's URL Filtering allowing the team-high visibility to quickly ascertain whether server requests should be allowed or not. This solution is a notable improvement from the third-party server previously employed, providing limited visibility.

Nitzschner highlighted that the most significant benefit post-upgrade was the enhanced reliability with minimal disruptions. "The Quantum Security Gateways just run, and run, and run. By turning on Quantum's full capabilities, we're getting more protection and deeper visibility out of the investment we already made," said Nitzschner. BCE anticipates continued collaboration with Check Point to secure its IT infrastructure.

Les Williamson, Regional Director of Check Point Australia and New Zealand, emphasised the importance of securing education customers considering the high impact of cyber attacks on the industry. He shared, "Check Point is thrilled to be collaborating with Brisbane Catholic Education to enable complete advanced threat prevention security with Quantum Security gateways, with centralised and streamlined security management that can handle all security risks and enhanced security visibility."