Horry County State Bank

Industry: Financial

Location: United States

Products Used: Hosted Web Security

Horry County State Bank Invests in Websense® Hosted Web Security to Protect Its Community

Horry County State Bank (HCSB) opened in 1988 with a single office. Its commitment has always been to provide quality banking services and to be a leader in the financial support of the communities it serves.

HCSB has since expanded its market area substantially to include most of Horry County, South Carolina, as well as the southern portion of Columbus County, North Carolina. This network includes 14 full-service banking offices. Throughout its growth, HCSB has maintained the character of a community-oriented, small-town institution.

The Problem

HCSB previously controlled access to the Internet through its firewall. However, the firewall offered an all-or-nothing approach. IT personnel granted managers full access and other employees were limited to a short list of specific URLs. IT management thought that employees were busy with the work at hand and would not abuse the privilege of having access to the Internet.

Then one day Candy Fowler, senior vice president of operations, logged on to a computer remotely to assist a loan officer in finalizing a loan. Fowler inadvertently accessed the wrong computer, and what she saw on the remote user’s screen was not only unrelated to the work at hand, it was offensive. She realized HCSB had a problem.

Fowler engaged Brett Roth, assistant vice president of IT, to find a solution. Roth knew that if extensive Web surfing for non-work related purposes was occurring, productivity would be negatively impacted but, more importantly, the door was open for viruses, malware, and spyware to infect the network. A bit of research on the HCSB network showed that most offenders were involved in online shopping — engaging in financial transactions that invited phishing attacks that could put the bank, its customers, and its critical information at risk. As a bank, HCSB manages clients’ personal financial information and other critical data daily. If machines were to become infected with spyware or keystroke-logging software, it would create a major risk for both the bank and its customers.

Roth realized he couldn’t block Internet access entirely. HCSB needed a flexible, customizable solution that IT could apply based on users’ business needs. Roth initially tried a Check Point Firewall, and evaluated Symantec solutions and was not impressed — he needed something that was both flexible and easy to manage.

The Solution

Easy Management for Employees in the Office and on the Road

Roth read about the hosted solution from Websense^®. He knew of the Websense reputation, so that made his decision easy. “If it were a new company, I would have been leery. Websense had such a good reputation that I knew I couldn’t go wrong.”

Websense Hosted Web Security provides centralized Web malware protection and granular Web filtering. The hosted deployment model provides centralized policy management for any type of environment, including those with remote locations and mobile laptops. Websense Hosted Web Security is a complete solution that can also be layered with existing on-premise security to provide additional protection. Guaranteed by industry-leading service level agreements, Websense hosted security eliminates the complexity and uncertainty of managing Web-based threats, while simplifying policy administration.

After evaluating Websense Hosted Web Security, Roth was pleased to discover that the protection not only covered desktop computers but also mobile laptop workers at home or on the road — without requiring software on each computer. Roth could determine the level of access that was appropriate based on employee needs.

The Results

With the Websense hosted solution, Roth no longer had to spend hours trying to make the HCSB firewall do more than it was intended to do. He didn’t need to allocate space for additional equipment and attend to it. He would no longer spend countless hours trying to repair machines devastated by malware. “Ever since we began using Websense Hosted Web Security, employees don’t need to call me when they can’t access a site,” said Roth. “Chances are good that if it’s a site they need access to, they can get to it. It saves time for all of us.”

Increased productivity

When Websense Hosted Web Security was first installed, Roth found as many as 75 percent of employees were surfing unauthorized websites — putting both the computers and sensitive bank information at risk. Production was impacted as well. As Fowler, his senior vice president, noted, “No one goes to a shopping site just to make a quick purchase. Folks get caught up in shopping and time slips by, and before you know it, we’ve lost an hour or more of work time.” With Websense Hosted Web Security, both Roth and Fowler are confident that their staff is more productive and focused on the work at hand.

Reduced exposure to risky downloads

HCSB had previously experienced the loss of valuable corporate information when two computers were corrupted from malware that staff had unknowingly downloaded. “Because of accidental downloads of malicious software, the hard drives had to be reformatted — all prior information was lost. The laptop users seem to be at the greatest risk,” said Roth.

Unauthorized downloads or visits to corrupted websites can put the company at risk. Websense Hosted Web Security helps HCSB protect its essential information by reducing that risk — without the cumbersome management of a laptop client.

Easy installation, easy management

Websense Hosted Web Security was easy to install and gives flexibility to Roth to make changes on the fly. If an employee moves into a new position and needs greater access, it’s a simple task to update their policies. He says, “I just go to the secure Web portal, make my groups, and apply them. This product is as slick as glass!”

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