IMail Server Training Helps Ignacio School District Avoid Terrorist Email Attacks
Company: Ignacio School District in Colorado
Industry: Education
Business Challenge: Prevent computer hackers from penetrating the email system.
Issues: The school needed a better understanding of IMail Server's security features
and how to implement them.
Outcome: The district's technology director attended an Ipswitch two-day training seminar and immediately deployed security measures that have kept the email system safe from intruders. The director also learned about other IMail Server features such as calendaring and online collaboration.
Right around the time of the September 11 terrorist attacks, an urgent security need evolved for the Ignacio School District in Colorado. “We suddenly became the target of hate-mail,” said Dr. Rick Smith, Technology Director for the school district. “Not only were end users receiving messages, but the hacker also made it appear as though our users were sending hate mail out to other people.”
The hate-mail attack was particularly crippling because the district did not have an email security screen in place to pinpoint the source. “The FBI became involved because it suspected the attacks may have come from a terrorist source,” Smith said. “We sent all of our hard drives to the FBI so the recovery process was a massive undertaking.”
With this damaging security breach, the school district knew it was time to take its email software, IMail Server from Ipswitch, to the next level. “We had known about IMail’s security features but felt that we did not need them,” Smith said. “With this occurrence and with other Internet security threats always evolving, implementing new safeguards became paramount.”
To learn how to deploy the security measures offered by IMail Server, Smith attended a two-day training seminar conducted by Ipswitch in New York City. Designed to deliver an overall practical understanding of IMail's role within a company’s email demands, the course explains everything about IMail Server from installation to ongoing administration and maintenance. The course also highlights IMail's functionality and provides an understanding of email server fundamentals. Attendees learn all the tricks to help them act more proactively and succeed in their daily email administration responsibilities.
The Ipswitch training immediately paid off for the district. “The instructor had us working in a lab setting and showed us exactly how to protect our email systems,” Smith said. “He also showed us how to administer the system remotely so I actually made program-setting changes to the system during the class.”
Since making the changes learned from the Ipswitch class, Ignacio has prevented hackers from doing any further damage to the email system. The school district now knows how to setup its system for maximum protection and what to do if an intruder sneaks through. “It’s now much more difficult to break into our system and manipulate it,” Smith said. “We can quickly check the logs to see if anyone is attempting to penetrate the system – this will help us stop them before any real damage occurs.”
The school district originally purchased IMail Server from Ipswitch simply to run the email system efficiently for their 110 teachers and administrators. “And that’s exactly what the software did,” Smith said. “It’s the simplest e-mail system I’ve ever seen -- easy to install, easy for users to understand, and easy to maintain.”
Many other companies agree with Smith about IMail Server -- a reliable, affordable, and easy-to-use messaging solution that over 30 million users worldwide count on to send and receive email. IMail Server contains the key features and safeguards without the complexity and expense of other groupware software that challenges even the most experienced administrators.
In addition to the improved security training, Smith picked up other key concepts at the Ipswitch training seminar. “I also learned how to set up IMail’s calendar features,” Smith said. “This has made it a lot easier for administrators and teachers to schedule meetings. It’s particularly helpful for administrative assistants who can see the calendars of the superintendent and the principals.”
Smith said the training also informed him of several other features that the school district will eventually consider. “We have to prioritize which features we can implement,” Smith said. “But IMail server has proven that it is much more than a simple email package. Administrators can do a whole lot more with the software while still keeping things simple for end users.”
Summarizing the experience, Smith said, “The Ipswitch training program is a worthwhile investment for any email administrator. It allows an organization to greatly expand the benefits it receives from IMail Server which has a lot to offer beyond simple email.”
About IMail Server
IMail Server is used by more than 3,000 ISPs worldwide. Ipswitch, the first to market with a high quality, commercial mail server for Windows NT and the first to incorporate Web Messaging and comprehensive anti-spamming capabilities, continues to innovate and lead the NT-based ISP market by meeting the growing demand for high quality messaging products that support open, Internet standards.