Case Study: Paragon Biomedical Secures Clinical Data via TippingPoint Intrusion Prevention System

The Challenge

When pharmaceutical companies worldwide conduct clinical trials to obtain FDA approval for new drugs, they turn to Paragon Biomedical, an international Contract Research Organization (CRO). Since 1989, Paragon Biomedical has provided clinical trials management services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, delivering highly sensitive medical data between its U.S. based headquarters in Irvine, California and its offices in the United Kingdom and India. To maintain the trust of its clients and comply with the demands of ensuring the privacy of medical information, the company must continually evaluate the security of its network.

This represented a particular challenge for Paragon Biomedical because of the multiple demands and users on its existing system. In addition to serving as a communication intranet (Online portals, E-community) for its 200+ employees, Paragon's network enables physicians and clinicians conducting clinical trials to communicate with its U.S. office via the Internet. Paragon's IT team feared that if remote users could access its network, then hackers might also be able to penetrate it with serious consequences for clients, employees and the company.

Why Solutions from TippingPoint

When Paragon Biomedical learned of the industry-leading IPS solutions TippingPoint had to offer, it decided to test the product on its network.

"We wanted a security solution that was effective, easy to manage, and cost effective enough that we could purchase it," said Roger Huff, senior network engineer at Paragon. "We wanted a solution that prevented network attacks, not just make us aware of them."

Huff said Paragon selected the TippingPoint IPS because it blocks a broad range of threats and malicious traffic, including spyware, worms, viruses, phishing, Trojans, and Denial of Service attacks, while allowing legitimate traffic to enter the network. It also protects against VoIP-specific threats, including vulnerabilities in VoIP protocol implementations. Furthermore, TippingPoint devices offer bandwidth management capabilities that can prioritize traffic and throttle non-critical applications.

And it is easy to install and manage. Huff said Paragon's network simply plugged in the TippingPoint IPS and turned it on, using its default settings. Within a week, and without any further IT staff involvement the platform blocked 36,000 malicious attempts to penetrate its network.

"Right out of the box, the TippingPoint solution worked flawlessly, and its wirespeed performance was tremendous," said Huff. "It carefully inspects every packet without degrading the network's speed."

Paragon promptly bought the TippingPoint IPS and deployed it at its Internet portal.

"Because we rely on IP telephony, we appreciated that the TippingPoint solution is one of the first true VoIP security products," Huff said.

Moreover, Paragon Biomedical relies on the TippingPoint Digital Vaccine¨ service to update the TippingPoint security solution, keeping its protection current with the latest threats. At least once a week, the IPS automatically receives updated security filters, enabling it to proactively defend against the newest viruses, worms and other risks.

"The Digital Vaccine service provides protection against zero-day attacks, along with preemptive protection through vulnerability-based filters," said Huff. "The filters also install automatically and have a default setting to block or alert." Paragon Biomedical deployed the TippingPoint Security Management System (SMS), an enterprise-class management platform that provides administration, configuration, monitoring, and complete reporting on all activity of its TippingPoint IPS.

Benefits Summary

Paragon Biomedical put its security concerns behind it and now enjoys the most robust IPS protection available. The TippingPoint security solution protects Paragon's sensitive medical data ensuring it meets and exceeds all mandates regulating the healthcare industry.

Moreover, the TippingPoint IPS has been maintenance-free. "We are able to internally manage a system that requires very little attention and simply operates reliably and effectively. The SMS generates daily reports on all suspicious activity at our Internet portal, but frankly, we can just scan them because we know our TippingPoint IPS is doing its job 24/7," Huff said. "The system requires very little IT time and resources to administer, yet safeguards our business from attacks that could be potentially very costly. It will pay for itself in no time. Simply put, it just works."

For more information about TippingPoint, please contact Chris Forte at 508-323-1160.