Tokyo, Japan-based Trend Micro Inc., a security software company that provides for enterprise clients, is now moving into the post-secondary education institution sphere to help IT departments protect their data, according to a statement by Trend Micro.
More than 15 universities and colleges are relying on Trend Micro’s security solutions. There are four capabilities available from Trend Micro: spam filtration, virtual security, controlling and blocking Web sites to protect against malicious sites and scanning file servers, according to the release.
There are less infected machines IT professionals must deal with when trend Micro Security is used on campuses, according to Ian Gordon, the director of marketing and channels at Trend Micro. This, in turn, means there is no need to take time reloading Windows software for students because there will be less corrupted software, Gordon said. This leads to a reduction in cost for the IT department.
There is a capability to run anti-spam on the existing security device by Trend Micro instead of buying dedicated ones, leading to a reduction in costs, Gordon said.
The IT department at the University of Windsor, located in Windsor, Ont., was interested in protecting its employees and students, according to Gordon. While, Kingston, Ont.-based St. Lawrence College’s IT is more concerned about spam filters for staff and student e-mail.
Trend Micro Enterprise Security is also being used at Carleton University in Ottawa to protect its data centre from intrusions. Carleton’s IT department chose to use Trend Micro’s security software because it had a deal with a company in Ottawa acquired in 2009 by Trend Micro, Third Brigade. Third brigade approached the university to develop a relationship with it several years ago, according to Ralph Michaelis, the chief information officer at Carleton.
Carleton’s IT also liked what Trend Micro offered, according to Michaelis, who has not seen any viruses or hacking attempts while using Trend Micro security.
“It’s made things easier for us because we know our servers are safe,” Michaelis said. “We’ve had (fewer) problems because threats and vulnerabilities have been stopped in their tracks.”
About half of all malware infections are within the education sector, according to a report by Trend Micro.
“Almost all of the threats today are from people going to a Web site and being infected,” Gordon said.