ZoneLabs: Putting Muscle Behind Security at Health Club Chain

Computerworld -

Zone Labs Inc.

Category: Security

Location: San Francisco

Technology: Zone Labs Integrity

How it works: This network security software uses security agents that run on PCs and laptops to enforce and manage security policies and control network access to the machines. The idea is to block hackers and stop Trojan horses, viruses and malware from spreading from one PC to another.

The server software manages all endpoints and has the capability to run various data logs and application-inventory reports. It provides a number of predefined policies that range from a report-only mode to restrictive policies, like the "paranoid" mode.

Customer sampling: Herman Miller Inc., Archdiocese of Seattle, 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide Inc.

Tip: James Casper, network engineer at 24 Hour Fitness, recommends working closely with Zone Labs while installing the security software to avoid cultural shock. "There can be some tricky situations to work through," he says, if the product isn't introduced in a way that matches how a company's employees feel about security.

What's in store: "The idea of providing preventive control over activity and monitoring activity and making policy decisions based on that is certainly a solid approach," says Pete Lindstrom, an analyst at Spire Security LLC in Malvern, Pa. "I really don't think antivirus is going to go away completely, but I'm hard-pressed to come up with a situation where people shouldn't have personal firewalls on their desktops."

Zone Labs Integrity also includes the ability to actually manage the security policies for many different clients from a single point. "That's the bane of existence for desktop administrators," says Lindstrom.

User Profile

With doctors and fitness experts recommending that people work out three to six times a week, it's no wonder that the health club business is booming. 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide Inc. has expanded its San Ramon, Calif.-based fitness-center chain to more than 300 clubs in 16 states since 1983, and each location needs systems protection from worms, viruses and hackers.

James Casper, the club's network engineer, was in the early stages of a virtual private network/client rollout about a year ago when he chose Zone Labs Integrity to protect his remote users.

The centrally managed, personal firewall technology offers a choice of two security clients: Integrity Agent, which enables central IT policy management with transparent security for users, and Integrity Flex, which lets end users control their own security policies when their machines aren't connected to the corporate network. Casper uses Integrity Flex, which gives him both on- and off-network profiles.

Casper says he has also customized some of the security policies and programmed his Integrity server to "discovery" mode. In other words, he's still tracking down which applications are running on which machines so he can better define those policies or add more.