Press Releases
Technology for Sharing Information Pinnacle to Improving Lives in Sunderland
Cyber-Ark's Inter-Business Vault is enabling a multi-agency project within Sunderland to work together closely to tackle crime
London (UK) - May 7, 2008 - Sunderland City Council has installed Cyber-Ark's Inter-Business Vault with the help of Global Secure Systems (GSS), to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and so improve the lives of its citizens. Information Sharing and Assessment (ISA) is a multi-agency project that allows all the services within Sunderland; such as the blue light services, the council, drug alcohol in action teams etc., to share information and work together closely. Using the digital vault they are able to securely access information that is accurate and complete to tackle crime and incidents within the region.
For example, if a venue continuously attracts vandalism, Sunderland City Council is able to use the information provided by the other agencies to identify when these acts are occurring and explore the available facilities in the area. It can then determine whether introducing other measures will address the problem, such as installing CCTV, offering recreational opportunities or simply improving the lighting and then monitor to see if the alterations have worked.
Individuals have rights to privacy and those involved with the project recognised this and were determined to meet this obligation. Historically, the various departments shared information via email and, due to sensitivity and security concerns, any identifying details were removed prior to circulation. This was not an ideal scenario as the information being shared was therefore incomplete, so it could not be wholly relied upon, and an alternative needed to be found.
Cyber-Ark's Inter-Business Vault, which was supplied to Sunderland by resellers Global Secure Systems (GSS), is a web application that sits on a windows platform and is hosted within the council's building in a secure data room. As the file structures with Network Vault are the same as Windows it is very easy and intuitive to use and the configuration straightforward. From a management perspective, the product offers total control over who has access to certain files and can select what files each team is able to view. This provides tight controls and audit trails, especially important to the council with regards to meeting ISO standards, so it ticked all the boxes for Sunderland City Council.
One example of the project in action is the Integrated Children's System that facilitates the earlier assessment of, and intervention with, vulnerable children and their families, many of which are identified through ISA. This helps agencies provide support earlier, before cases reach a crisis point and to identify cases in which children are at risk.
Craig McNally, the Geographical Information Systems Manager at Sunderland City Council, summed it up perfectly when he said; "Fundamentally this project is about tackling crimes and incidents within our region. Having the Cyber-Ark Vault allows the partners to be able to tackle crimes effectively and pin point people who are in need of help and, or, support - basically it's pinnacle in improving our citizens lives. It is the only product that would allow us to do what we're doing and, for the price, it does more than it says on the tin."
For more information or to get a copy of the full casestudy please contact:
Yvonne Eskenzi PR for Cyber-Ark Software - on 020 7183 2832 or email Yvonne@eskenzipr.com
About Sunderland City Council
The Local Government Act of 1972 established Sunderland City Council as a "metropolitan district", a Council within Tyne and Wear, one of England's six metropolitan areas. Today, Sunderland City Council is the largest city between Leeds and Edinburgh and is home to 280,000 citizens. It is a unitary local authority, responsible for a wide variety of essential public services within its boundaries. It is the Council's continuing aim to improve the quality of life for all local people and in March 2008 the council's IT department won the Department for Communities and Local Government 2007 Digital Challenge and Inclusion Network award for using IT to fight social exclusion.
About Cyber-Ark Software
Cyber-Ark Software™ is the leading provider of Privileged Identity Management (PIM) solutions for securing privileged user accounts and highly-sensitive information across the enterprise. Long recognized as an industry innovator for its patented Vaulting Technology®, Cyber-Ark's digital vault products include: The Enterprise Password Vault™ for the secure management of administrative, application and privileged user passwords; the Inter-Business Vault®, a secure infrastructure for cross-enterprise data exchange of highly-sensitive information, and the Sensitive Document Vault™ for secure storage and management of highly-sensitive documents. Cyber-Ark's Vaulting platform has been tested by ICSA Labs, an independent division of Cybertrust and the security industry's central authority for research, intelligence, and certification testing of security products. Cyber-Ark's award-winning technology is deployed by more than 400 global customers, including 100 of the world's largest banks and financial institutions. Headquartered in Newton, MA, Cyber-Ark has offices and authorized partners in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, visit www.cyber-ark.com
About Global secure Systems Ltd
Global Secure Systems was founded in 1997 to supply IT security solutions. Since then the business has evolved and grown organically. With around 2000 clients, and offices in Worthing, London and Dublin, GSS is one of the UK's premier IT Security Integrators. www.gss.co.uk
