Bridgestone's exclusive Saudi distributor turns to ESET to deliver optimized security support.

ADAOX Middle East, the regional business development centre for ESET NOD32 Antivirus, today announced that Al Talayi Establishment, the sole distributor for Bridgestone Tires in Saudi Arabia, has deployed ESET NOD32 Antivirus and ESET Smart Security (ESS) suite to secure its computers and IT network from viruses, spyware, malware and other known
and unknown online security threats.

Al Talayi Tires, an ISO 9001/2000 certified company, has the largest distribution network for tires in Saudi Arabia. The company has a huge network of branch offices, tire service centers, warehouses and large fleet of trucks and vans across the Kingdom. To centralise its operations, the company has an extensive IT infrastructure in place which includes a robust BAAN ERP system, Microsoft ISA (Internet Security and Acceleration) Server and Microsoft Exchange among other key applications deployed on hundreds of computers at 30 key locations. The company has several leased lines as well as a Virtual Private Network for connectivity.

'With such an exhaustive IT network in place, a failsafe IT security service was a necessity for us. Robust virus protection is critical to the well-being of our company's commercial operations, which is almost entirely computer-based. We were not happy with the performance of our previously installed antivirus solution, the lack of adequate support, and the fact that the software consumed high PC and network bandwidth. We were experiencing continuous trouble with infections, complex signature distribution and administering remote networks and hence we decided to replace the security solution,' explains Eng. Abdullah A. R. Bawazir, Network Supervisor, Al Talayi Bridgestone.

'We evaluated various security products available in the market and chose ESET NOD32 and ESS suite for their proactive heuristics diagnostics and the size of the software, which wouldn't slow down the system's performance. We also read reviews of different antivirus products performed by independent consumer organizations such as AV Bulletin and AV Comparatives to be sure we were making the right choice. We are more than satisfied with the performance of ESET NOD32 and ESET Smart Security solutions and are also happy with Zedan for their support, speed and professionalism on this deployment,' Eng. Bawazir added.

Zedan Solutions, ESET's distributor in Saudi Arabia, helped Al Talayi deploy the ESET solutions seamlessly with no network slowdown or downtime. The ESS suite and ESET NOD32 could be centrally managed, automatically updating end-user devices without impacting performance and offering the highest level of proactive protection that stops any new forms of malware from impacting the network.

Both ESET NOD32 as well as ESS has been installed on the ERAS servers, as well as the Microsoft Exchange servers. The ability to centrally and remotely manage ESET administration across several replicated ERAS has been of great benefit to the client.

'We have witnessed several strategic businesses in the market realizing the need for a security product that secures effectively and is easily managed through a central management console. With such user friendly features on offer, ESET NOD32 as well as ESS have been finding favor with a number of customers across the SMB and enterprise sectors,' commented Mr. Brian Hawley, General Manager at Zedan Solutions.

Built on the award-winning ThreatSense engine, ESET NOD32 antivirus software proactively detects and eliminates more viruses, trojans, worms, adware, spyware, phishing, rootkits and other internet threats than any other antivirus solution available on the market today. ESET NOD32 is very light as compared to other antivirus products, less CPU intensive when executing a background scan and is also more efficient in detecting threats. It is an ideal antivirus for any system including operating systems such as Windows Vista and Windows XP and also runs smoothly on Windows legacy systems, MS-DOS, file servers, mail servers, and more.

ESET Smart Security is a tightly integrated security solution, built on the ESET NOD32 Antivirus and its powerful ThreatSense engine. It provides antispyware, antispam and customised firewall features.

'ESET NOD32 and ESS offer industry leading performance and easy manageability that customers like Al Talayi need to easily and securely exchange information. Our continued success in the region with key customers is a testimony of the technical superiority of the products that we offer. Designed to offer hassle free performance, these solutions are least resource hungry and drastically reduce the risks of malicious code and unsuitable e-mail content from entering the network,' said Mr. Neo Neophytou, Managing Director of ADAOX Middle East.

Al Talayi Bridgestone is about to embark on an IT expansion phase, mostly to increase redundancy and clustering of mail, hub and edge servers. A key aspect will be to closely integrate ESET solutions into this expansion and Zedan is working closely with them on this project.