Company: St Anne’s Community Services
Industry: Not-for-profit
Solution: Email Security, Web Security, CASB, Compliant Email Archive
In our move to the cloud, we have been looking for solutions that are always connected, always available, and always making things simpler for the IT team. In Censornet we have found a security partner that ticks all those boxes.
St Anne’s Community Services deliver support of all kinds to those that need it across the North of England, from domiciliary care and assisted living, to support with mental health and substance abuse. Through the highly important work they do, not-for-profit organisations face a heavy responsibility to have the tightest data security in place to protect the sensitive information they hold.
The challenge of protecting confidential information has increased in recent years as more stringent data privacy regulation has been put in place through the GDPR, while at the same time digital transformation increases the volume and vulnerability of data. Visibility of where data is stored, and control over who has access to it and has the ability to share it is vital in this day and age, fortunately Censornet facilitates a three-pronged approach for DLP and data security with features in email security, web security and CASB.
“St Anne’s cares for thousands of people across the UK, some for upwards of 40 years,” explained Dave Johnson, IT Manager at St Anne’s. “Ensuring that we are handling their data right is my highest priority. We work in collaboration with a number of government departments, all of which are undergoing major changes in how they handle data through the government’s Active Digital Plan. When we began working with Censornet, I was looking to ensure that our security efforts to protect this data were moving just as fast.”
A modern security solution to match modern challenges
With St Anne’s already well on the way in its cloud transformation journey, having migrated to Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365, Johnson identified that the charity needed an additional layer of security on top of what was provided as standard by its cloud services. Unfortunately, it became clear that previous security suppliers didn’t have the necessary cloud security expertise or share St Anne’s ambition to modernise its digital estate and become more cost effective.
“It became very clear that the legacy security products we were using were costly, ineffective and hard to maintain,” said Johnson. “They were no longer keeping pace with how our environment was configured and therefore were not fit for purpose.”
In particular, Johnson was looking for a provider that could simplify security for the charity across its eight locations. Censornet was chosen because it allowed St Anne’s to manage the web, email and CASB through one platform, rather than requiring the small IT team to navigate multiple solutions to identify a security issue, saving valuable time and money for the organisation.
“Having multiple solutions in a single cloud platform is a major benefit for us,” said Johnson. “This single view gives us greater visibility and actionable data that is easy to understand, allowing us to have greater control of our security. In our move to the cloud, we have been looking for solutions that are always connected, always available, and always making things simpler for the IT team. In Censornet we have found a security partner that ticks all those boxes.”
Another modern challenge, GDPR compliance, drove St. Anne’s to adopt Censornet’s Email Archiving solution. This additional product was delivered with strong support throughout the implementation, and Johnson has found it to be a robust and reliable solution.
Johnson commented “We have found it quick and easy to implement with outstanding outcomes. The cost and functionality is far superior to or previous solution and we have found this to be a tool that we can utilise across the business to aid with many technical and operational challenges such as GDPR compliance.”
St Anne’s gains confidence thanks to layered security and premium support
With Censornet, St Anne’s has secured its entire workforce – which can reach up to 2,000 full time and part time staff – over email, on the web, and when using cloud services. Censornet’s integrated Web Security and CASB solutions work together to facilitate the charity’s bring-your-own-device policy, giving the IT team visibility and control of the apps and websites their staff are using on their own devices. This allows them to protect their mobile workforce with zero-touch configuration and follow-the-user filtering to block dangerous content and malware, stop multi-channel attacks and prevent unsanctioned in-app activity.
“Shadow IT is a challenge but with Censornet’s data we are able to easily see user behaviour and stop inappropriate use of apps or the web when necessary,” said Johnson. “Censornet has given us the ability to make the most of initiatives like BYOD and migration to Microsoft 365.”
For Microsoft 365 in particular, the LinkScan™ application of Censornet’s Email Security product has provided an additional level of security, scanning URLs in emails at time-of-click to ensure nothing malicious is reaching St Anne’s employees. The charity has also been able to put extra security measures in place for high-value, high-exposure members of staff such as board members like the CEO and CFO.
“The implementation with Censornet is one of the best supplier experiences I have ever had,” concluded Johnson. “Within thirty days everything was fully implemented, and we had full confidence that we were immediately better protected. Beyond the technology, this confidence also comes down to the brilliant support from the team who were always there to help – they trained the team and got us online. They remain on hand for any questions or issues we have, are always looking to add value for us, and make updates in impressive 14- day sprints. It is an extremely well managed development lifecycle; I couldn’t ask for more.”
