IT security solutions for social welfare organisations

DIOS-Diakonie Osnabrück Stadt und Land gGmbH with comprehensive firewall cluster from Securepoint

DIOS-Diakonie (www.diakonie-os.de) is a company of the Protestant Church in the city and district of Osnabrück with around 2100 employees. It is responsible for facilities for elderly and youth welfare, diaconal counselling and refugee work as well as training and further education.

Together with DIAKO-Dienstleistungs GmbH as an internal service provider, DIOS-Diakonie relies on a cluster solution consisting of NextGen UTM firewalls from Securepoint for the secure Internet connection of two head offices and 25 branch offices. The special requirements for which a solution had to be found became apparent as early as the joint project planning stage, with the many branch offices and the central node. For this reason, DIAKO-Dienstleistungs GmbH successfully carried out extensive software and hardware tests for DIOS using a Securepoint test model.

Further feature requirements for the new solution were:

Independent support
Speed and flexibility on site thanks to our own team
Compliance requirements in terms of the project audit

The systems to be replaced were converted to Securepoint solutions at the beginning of 2019: The initial installation took place at both main sites, each with two internet connections. A cluster solution with two RC 1000 NextGen UTM firewalls was implemented there under time pressure. After a further two months, 8 locations were already integrated into the network via VPN. The remaining 17 locations were integrated within a further month.

In total, three Black Dwarf VPN gateways, 19 RC100, five RC200 and two RC1000 NextGen UTM firewalls from Securepoint are in use at DIOS-Diakonie. DIAKO-Dienstleistungs GmbH also has replacement devices on site for DIOS so that it can act quickly and flexibly if necessary.

Einblick in den Serverschrank mit den zwei UTM-Firewalls von Securepoint. — Cluster solution with two RC 1000 NextGen UTM firewalls

By August, around 150 VPN clients had also been converted to the free Securepoint VPN client. Two-factor authentication, which was not available with the old solution, was particularly important to the IT department at DIAKO-Dienstleistungs GmbH, also with a view to the next IT audit. DIOS-Diakonie is now 100% online with Securepoint.

Our UTM firewalls in detail

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Three different models of Securepoint UTM firewalls for server cabinets

In conversation with Roger Fischer

‘During the changeover, it was important to us that we could operate the systems used independently and without external support. This was not possible with the solution we were previously using. Securepoint provides us with fast and good support when we need help. That was a decisive factor for us.

For us, the focus is clearly on independence, i.e. also on speed and flexibility in the event of a fault. This applies, for example, to failover and switching to a different internet connection if the other one doesn't work, as we use two internet connections at many locations.’

In the search for a new solution, however, costs were also an issue, as were training courses that would enable us to operate the solution ourselves. The feedback on the training courses has always been very good. They also have more of a workshop character with a lot of practical relevance.

‘And, of course, Securepoint as a German manufacturer and the no-backdoor guarantee also played a role in the decision. Although this was not the final criterion, it is important, especially with regard to data protection in the church sector. In contrast to the solution we were using before, this is quite different. With Securepoint, we can also fulfil these special data protection requirements,’ explains Fischer.