Global management consultancy partners with Sybari Software

Whether itís making a purchase or registering for information, only 24% of adults in the UK now consider it safe to provide their personal details either online via a website or within the content of an email. With an estimated 15 million people online in the UK, this general lack of trust in internet and email security is often unjustified as more and more companies consistently review the applications used to maintain a secure environment. Yet, it is constantly fuelled by the notorious profiles of hackers and the ongoing publicity of viruses, worms, spam and new and advanced threats that infect our computers.

The amount of international attention being given to hackers is a contributory factor to the publicís concerns and with the likes of Microsoft and the US government backing their own hacker ëseek and destroyí campaign, no-one can be blamed for being overwhelmed and concerned by the impact that viruses, worms, spam and other malicious code may be having on our ability to embrace ëall things onlineí.

This lack of trust in providing personal information online is a stumbling-block for those companies whose business depends on it.

The recruitment sector currently manages a vast majority of its search and select process of candidates online and via email. Confidential and financially sensitive information is exchanged from inbox to inbox in order for the recruiter to establish a profile of that person. On many occasions, the candidate is disclosing details that could prove damaging if they were to get into the wrong hands, i.e. an intention to leave his or her employer.

Even following initial meetings, most recruiters continue relationships with customers and candidates via email. This means that they cannot ignore the future developments or changes in technology and, indeed legislation, which will effect online communication.

The issue of security has to be addressed at all levels, from top to bottom, from shopfront to head office, from internal to external. All recruitment businesses need to adopt a core progressive IT security strategy that will grow and develop with their business. Current technology dictates that communication methods are either by phone, fax or email, but just as mobile phone technology now integrates predominantly IT and TV-based technology, so too will our other tools of communication. We have already seen this happen with instant messaging which provides the end-user with the ability to communicate in real-time and directly to the customer or candidate leaving all parties open to the threat of viruses, worms or spam.

As technology is converging, so too are the potential threats that impact it. Spams, viruses and worms merge to become more of a threat. Viruses and worms can impact your instant messaging applications and burrow deep into every contact on every database that you own. So, for the entire recruitment sector, there is still a current need to protect your employees, communicate your IT policies to colleagues, candidates and customers and adopt the appropriate technology and security software to do it.

In this current ësecurity-awareí climate, one company whoís fundamental part of its business methodology is to access, retain and protect personal details for its clients and candidates is Egon Zehnder International, one of the world leading management consultancyies specializedsing in executive search, board search and management appraisal.

Egon Zehnder maintains extensive databases of clients and candidates own personal information. This data forms the key basis for the businesses prompt and precise response and recommendation, consequently a secure message and collaboration process is essential.

It is organiszed as a global partnership and is represented in 36 countries with 58 offices and 1000 employees. Providing a seamless operation across its global offices, for internal and external communications, together with easy access to key research data is an essential part of the overall support process. Working together, the consultants and staff of Egon Zehnder International are able to share information and communicate in real-time greatly assisting the rapid assessment and recommendation of top-level management resources.

Egon Zehnderís clients range in size from the world’s largest corporations to emerging growth companies. In addition, it works for government and regulatory bodies and major educational and cultural organisations.

Assessing and recruiting business leaders at such a high-profile corporate level, all of whom have outstanding track records and who will create competitive advantage and sustainable value to any clientsí business, has led to the worldwide success of the company and the sensitivities needed to discuss often confidential changes within a corporate climate or within personal settings is of utmost importance. Business takes place within the financial services, technology, telecoms, life sciences, consumer, industrial, insurance and private capital sectors. Such factors highlight that Egon Zehnder cannot run the risk of downtime of its system, or even worse ñ misplaced or unauthorised use of data due to computer viruses or other malicious code. It is easy to see why this data is so important to the company.

With this in mind, Its Global Technical Manager, Jim Webber, takes an extremely systematic approach to IT security and implements advanced and appropriate technology as a preventative measure.

Jim talks about the impact of inadequate IT security, ëA few years ago, Egon Zehnder Internationalís previous security software was unable to cope with the increasing volume of email viruses and spam. This eventually caused one of our mail servers to crash and we encountered the full impact of a virus getting through, which crippled our email system for some time. The result was a number of important emails missed, with the inevitable impact on service to our clients. The subsequent recovery time was very problematic for everyone. We cannot afford to lose time and most importantly, we cannot afford to lose one of our main methods of communication. Email is an imperative to providing information to our clients and candidates.

Jim goes on to say, ëBecause of the unprecedented increase in virusí and spam and the way that new threats are becoming technologically advanced and subsequently could impact all our applications, we re-evaluated our installed software and began our search to find a stable, effective and reliable product that would not only cope with the high volume of virus and spam, but be able to address the problem using new and advanced technologies.ë

ëTwo years ago, we installed Antigen from Sybari Software and we are pleased to report that not one email borne-virus has since made its way into the end-users email,.í he said.

He goes on, ëSo, when Sybari launched its spam product, adopting a new approach to the problem we decided to evaluate the product and traial it. . We recently installed Sybariís ëAdvanced Spam Defense (ASD)í product, and during this trial period alone we reported 95% of email spam had been trapped. Sybariís spam product works differently to others on the market. It works in real-time and independent of content. Spammers cannot get past the Sybari ASD by using a variety of keyword combinations, applying different spellings to common words or by sending non text-based messages such as graphic images and other rich-media formats.í he continued.

ëTo give you an idea of volume, we have installed the ëAdvanced Spam Defenseí product with 300 of our people and its detecting 330,000 spam emails within any given four week period.í We have a very low threshold for false positives therefore the accuracy provided by the Sybari approach was key,í he said.

As a recruitment company, Egon Zehnder International is under legal obligation to protect and secure its Port Replicator clients and candidatesí personal details. It abides by The Data Protection Act which requires the correct use and communication of information relating to individuals. Consequently, it has to put IT security at the top of its agenda and review it constantly and in line with advancing technologies and changes keeping pace with the developments of viruses, worms, spam and other malicious code.