66,000 Students Protected by Q1 Labs’ Security Intelligence Platform

Liberty University Chooses QRadar SIEM for its Scalability, Analytics and High Performance

WALTHAM, Mass. – February 24, 2011 – Q1 Labs, the global provider of total security intelligence solutions, today announced that Liberty University, the largest and fastest-growing Christian Evangelical University worldwide, has selected QRadar Security Intelligence Platform from Q1 Labs to manage the University’s increasing amount of security related data, while improving the detection of threats across the University network.

Founded in 1971 and located in Lynchburg, Virginia, on a 6,500-acre campus, Liberty University has grown during the past five years, now educating a combined total of 66,000 residential and distance education students. Education opportunities include 61 undergraduate programs, 41 graduate areas of study, and four doctoral programs. Most importantly, Liberty is ranked as one of the world’s largest online educators – a testament to the growing need of Liberty’s Network Services team to be armed with the most comprehensive security solution to protect its students’ information and network use.

Dramatic Business Growth Creates Data Upsurge and Need for Better Security

With a growing data environment and a substantial number of students connecting into the University’s network, Liberty University needed the capability to detect security and IT incidents in-progress or that had already occurred. Detecting threats that may have penetrated the University network through multiple entry points or conduits was essential to identify security gaps. The ability to analyze system usage and performance across users’ devices and applications in order to identify potential threats was an essential requirement to bolstering their security program.

“We had two major goals when we first began evaluating security information and event management (SIEM) solutions; from a security perspective, we required the ability to protect and preserve data while ensuring integrity. From an administrative perspective, we wanted to get to the point where logs were tamper-resistant,” said Doug Atkinson, Network Engineer at Liberty University. “Immediately after deployment, we realized how useful QRadar would be from a forensic perspective because it pulled logs from multiple separate systems and consolidated them into one central location, resulting in one platform addressing both strategic goals.”

QRadar SIEM serves as the foundation of Liberty’s security strategy by providing secure reporting, storage and analysis capabilities without placing a burdensome traffic load on the network. With a large and constantly increasing number of online students, the ability to collect over 10,000 events per second was critical based on heavy Web usage that included Web 2.0/social media applications that have become a mainstay in education and business environments.

“Comprehensive security includes meeting your compliance requirements,” said Atkinson. “Rather than implement logging just to meet regulatory compliance, Liberty wanted a solution that would prove truly useful in our day-to-day operations. By choosing a comprehensive logging and SIEM product in QRadar, we have been able to have state-of-the-art SIEM as well as meet our compliance needs.”

Correlating their events, logs and network activity to identify incidents helps the team better respond to potential offenses. At the same time, getting alerts about anomalous behavior is critical for them so that they can capture better visibility from all essential sources.

“Liberty University is a great customer, and we are proud to have earned their trust and their business,” said Tom Turner, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Channels at Q1 Labs. “They are an example of what we are seeing throughout our marketplace: increasing amounts of data to turn into security intelligence, while addressing compliance demands without the benefit of full-time analysts on the payroll.”

For more information, click here to check out the Liberty University case study on the Q1 Labs website.

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About Q1 Labs

Q1 Labs is a global provider of high-value, cost-effective next-generation security intelligence products. The company’s flagship product, the QRadar Security Intelligence Platform, integrates previously disparate functions – including SIEMrisk managementlog management, network behavior analytics, and security event management – into a total security intelligence solution, making it the most intelligent, integrated and automated security intelligence solution available. QRadar provides users with crucial visibility into what is occurring with their networks, data centers, and applications to better protect IT assets and meet regulatory requirements. Q1 Labs is headquartered in Waltham, Mass., U.S.A., and the company’s global customer base includes managed service providers, healthcare providers, energy firms, retail organizations, utility companies, financial institutions, government agencies, and universities, among others. For more information, visit Q1Labs.com, e-mail info@Q1Labs.com, or call 781-250-5800.