Cisco Cisco ASA 5520 Adaptive Security Appliance Guía De Información
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Challenge
Modern healthcare is going digital. While nothing can replace the human touch, the
processes found in modern hospitals and clinics are increasingly carried out using
electronic entries on electronic devices. This connected approach yields significant
benefits in terms of patient care, and caregiver effectiveness, yet also creates a
different set of data security challenges to those associated with traditional healthcare.
processes found in modern hospitals and clinics are increasingly carried out using
electronic entries on electronic devices. This connected approach yields significant
benefits in terms of patient care, and caregiver effectiveness, yet also creates a
different set of data security challenges to those associated with traditional healthcare.
One organization that has faced and overcome these challenges is Oxford
University Hospitals NHS Trust (OUH), a world-renowned center of clinical
excellence and one of the largest National Health Service (NHS) teaching trusts
in the United Kingdom. The center comprises four hospitals, and to a growing
extent, the trust also coordinates research and treatment in other hospitals as well
as doctors’ surgeries across Oxfordshire. Given that much of this collaboration
involves digital media, OUH has had to modernize its IT security systems to help
ensure patient confidentiality is not compromised.
University Hospitals NHS Trust (OUH), a world-renowned center of clinical
excellence and one of the largest National Health Service (NHS) teaching trusts
in the United Kingdom. The center comprises four hospitals, and to a growing
extent, the trust also coordinates research and treatment in other hospitals as well
as doctors’ surgeries across Oxfordshire. Given that much of this collaboration
involves digital media, OUH has had to modernize its IT security systems to help
ensure patient confidentiality is not compromised.
The trigger came in 2012, when existing firewalls reached end-of-support. At
the time, OUH was using five perimeter firewalls: two for Internet access, one for
Oxford University and JANET (the U.K. national research and education network),
and two for N3 (the NHS broadband network).
the time, OUH was using five perimeter firewalls: two for Internet access, one for
Oxford University and JANET (the U.K. national research and education network),
and two for N3 (the NHS broadband network).
Unusually for an NHS trust, OUH is able to publish its internal routes onto N3 using
the Cisco® Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP). However, its firewalls
were not able to take advantage of this functionality because they could only handle
Open Shortest Path First routing protocols.
the Cisco® Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP). However, its firewalls
were not able to take advantage of this functionality because they could only handle
Open Shortest Path First routing protocols.
The result was that most Internet traffic ended up going over N3 links, throttling
the NHS network and slowing the delivery of critical medical applications. At the
same time, OUH was using a different vendor platform for URL filtering and proxy
traffic, and wanted to combine this functionality with firewalling in a single solution
for greater efficiency.
the NHS network and slowing the delivery of critical medical applications. At the
same time, OUH was using a different vendor platform for URL filtering and proxy
traffic, and wanted to combine this functionality with firewalling in a single solution
for greater efficiency.
Customer Case Study
Cisco Next-Generation Firewalls enable Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust to securely enhance
patient experience
Customer Name:
Oxford University
Hospitals NHS Trust
Industry:
Healthcare
Location:
United Kingdom
Number of Employees:
11,500
Challenge
• Maintain data security while fostering
open collaboration
• Improve network traffic handling to
reduce congestion
• Reduce costs by consolidating IT
appliances
Solution
• Cisco security based on Cisco ASA
5500-X Series Next-Generation
Firewalls
Firewalls
Results
• Faster access to healthcare information
and tools with 16-fold increase in
network speeds
network speeds
• Boosted general practitioner Internet
performance by 75 percent
• Reduced maintenance costs by
US$56,000 a year
© 2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
EDCS-1425603
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