Kingston City Council Selects PatchLink To Meet Internal Audit Requirements

David Bass
Tuesday, 24 October 2006 14:51

SYDNEY, 24 OCTOBER 2006 – Victoria’s Kingston City Council has selected PatchLink, the global leader in patch and vulnerability management, to streamline its software patch management process, secure its remote locations and meet internal audit requirements. 

PatchLink Update™ 6.2 replaces the time-consuming and inefficient manual processes Kingston City Council previously had in place for rolling out security patches across 27 sites from a centralised location.
The council can now automatically deploy security updates and install new software patches across its network with minimal administrative effort and disruptions for its end users.
“PatchLink is easy to install, use and manage, allowing us to roll out patches quickly and efficiently,” said Duncan Kelly, Manager Information Services, Kingston City Council. “It has also reduced our risk profile and enabled us to meet internal audit requirements around network security.”
Kingston City Council serves a community of 135,000 in Melbourne’s outer suburbs. It manages everything from rates and building applications to services such as Meals on Wheels and childcare centres. The council has two main offices and 25 remote sites. The council’s Information Services Department manages around 40 applications across 580 desktops, 40 notebooks and around 230 handheld PCs.
  With such a large number of devices and applications to support, the department was struggling to stay on top of deploying updates.  
“With so many remote sites, security is paramount, particularly as many staff access the council’s systems while on the move,” explained Kelly. “We need to be sure our whole network is secure, and that includes having the latest patches deployed to all devices.”  

“Once the auditors assess our processes , it’s our job to ensure that the council’s systems and IT infrastructure meet those requirements,” said Kelly. “Our internal auditors identified patch management as a major area for improvement.”  
After undertaking a number of improvements to its IT environment, which included connecting all remaining remote sites to head office via an ADSL network, standardising on four desktop images and updating hardware, the council was ready to install a patch management solution.  
“Colleagues in the IT industry recommended PatchLink,” said Kelly. “When we compared it to other products on the market, we could see why.”  
PatchLink Update provides a complete solution for managing and automating patch management. It rapidly assesses security vulnerabilities across the entire IT infrastructure, accurately remediates those security holes and continuously monitors patch status to ensure complete network security and IT compliance.  
“We’ve been astounded by how easy PatchLink is to install, configure and manage,” said Kelly. “It’s also operating system independent, which gives us a great deal of flexibility across our heterogeneous environment. The management and functionality of the subscription service is superb.  
“Our internal audit team is very happy with PatchLink. We’ve significantly reduced our risk profile and ensured the security of our remote sites and mobile workforce.”
 About PatchLink CorporationPatchLink® Corporation is the leading enterprise security patch and vulnerability assessment management solutions provider with offices in the US, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Providing a highly scalable, extensible, multi-platform technology for network security, including endpoints, PatchLink Update™ gives customers access to the world’s largest repository of tested security patches and mis-configuration updates for deployment across their enterprises.  Australia and New Zealand customers utilising PatchLink software, solutions and services span all vertical industries and include: AngloGold Ashanti, Australia Limited, Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex, Te Runanga O Ngai Tahu, among others.  
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