Internet Services Unit at KACST deploys Blue Coat appliances to provide secure and productive web access

The Internet Services Unit of KACST is responsible for providing secure and productive Internet services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to academic sectors and research centers, in cooperation with the national telecommunications company and regulatory government. With its value-added services, KACST also supports the development of a national research and educational network.

Dr. Hesham Bin-Abbas, Director, Internet Services Unit at KACST said, "ISU needs to have the most sophisticated, efficient and scalable infrastructure to support our increasing number of clients, escalating security challenges and additional requirements for the introduction of new services. We needed a high performance platform that could support expansion and provide flexibility. In addition we also required a way to bridge the gap between IPv4 and IPv6".

KACST selected Blue Coat ProxySG appliances after a rigorous survey of vendors in the market and an intensive technical evaluation. They completed the deployment on schedule in one month.

After the deployment of ProxySG appliances, ISU at KACST was able to double bandwidth capacity and offer seamless IPv6 support to clients and content. By also using ProxyAV appliances in conjunction with ProxySG appliances, the organization has been able to provide virus and malware protection without any noticeable delay in response.

Located at the organization's Internet gateway, the ProxySG appliances prevent malware and unauthorized applications from compromising network security or performance. At the same time, the appliances accelerate Web applications and content. Even SSL-encrypted traffic can be assessed and secured or accelerated.

"We are pleased to see the important role our solutions play in helping ISU at KACST bring safe and efficient Internet services to its users. Blue Coat appliances provide critical Web security while also speeding content, decreasing bandwidth consumption and serving as a transparent gateway between IPv4 and IPv6 content and infrastructure," said Mr. Nidal Taha, Regional Director for ME and Turkey, Blue Coat Systems.

About Internet Services Unit (ISU) at King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology (KACST)
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) is an independent scientific organization administratively reporting to the Prime Minister. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia chartered KACST with the creation of the STI (Science, Technology and Innovation) policy and platform to create a diversified, knowledge-based economy.

Internet Services Unit (ISU) is chartered to promote internet based services for national academic sectors. ISU cooperates with the Saudi Data Services Providers (DSPs) and the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) to provide and develop internet connectivity and related value added services to academic and research institutions and some government entities within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.