How Computer Associates guards secrets

Feb 1, 1999 12:00 PM, AC&SSI Staff

$4.7 billion software company enhances security to keep pace with expansion.

Software companies use state-of-the-art equipment and possess trade secrets, business strategies and research data that must be well protected. Thus, security is a prime concern.

One software company at the forefront in its corporate security efforts is Computer Associates International Inc., considered a leader in business software and services for more than 20 years. The company conducts business in more than 100 countries, has 13,000 employees and earned $4.7 billion in 1998.

Security is taken seriously at Computer Associates. The company is currently upgrading physical security at its Islandia, N.Y., headquarters, which is undergoing a major expansion. "Our emphasis has always been to channel all body traffic (both personnel and visitors) through the main lobby," says Bill Desser, a manager of corporate security. "In this way, we can account for anyone inside the building. With no alarms on external doors, we would have no way to detect unauthorized exits.

Each exit door is protected by a Designed Security Inc. ES 430 exit alarm. Violations are annunciated with an alarm locally and at the guard station. A bypass input allows the guard to silence the alarm remotely. "At first, employees who were using these exits as shortcuts complained," says Desser. "But after a few days, word gets around and violations go down to zero."

Additional products used for door management include ES 420 series door-prop alarms and ES 440 series request-to-exit buttons from Designed Security. The door-prop alarm avoids the problem of doors held or propped open for extended periods of time. When a doorway is open for more than a few moments, a local alarm is issued. If no action is taken within a preset time, a remote alarm sounds and guards investigate. Further, all emergency exits are fitted with alarmed, mushroom-type request-to-exit buttons that allow doorways to be breached from the inside. The exit buttons provide a means of control for emergency egress through access-controlled doors and alarm shunting.

To strengthen the visual impact of the security hardware, Computer Associates installed customized Designed Security 19-inch-rack, gate-control panels to give guards a visual light indication of which gates are open and which need attention. If a guard forgets to close a gate and is busy, for example, another guard in a secondary position can observe the light on his console and take action.

A closed-circuit television system stands watch over the facility, both internally and externally. Copper wiring to outdoor devices has been replaced with fiber-optic cables, which have no distortion and are unaffected by lightning. Using modems made by Fiber Options, fiber-optic cables link the network, providing a pure image immune to interference. Lightning is no small matter, says Desser. "Switchers and multiplexers are easily destroyed if a surge travels along a wire into the printed circuit boards. Since we began using fiber cable in our facilities four years ago, however, we haven't experienced a single failure," he says.

Innovative security Computer Associates takes a proactive role in its own protection, which has resulted in several innovations. Computer Associates uses its existing wide-area network (WAN) to bring remote buildings in its vast network on-line to headquarters. "We have linked 25 sites and many more are due in the coming months," says Desser. "Due to Computer Associates' rapid growth, we have to be prepared to build a huge security network or integrate a newly-acquired company at a moment's notice."

With more than 13,000 employees worldwide, centralizing security policy definition and enforcing policies proactively across the entire enterprise would seem to be a major challenge. But not for Computer Associates. Using its own Unicenter TNG (The Next Generation), a policy-based security management system, IT managers candefine policies at the business-process level and enforce them consistently across the enterprise. Unicenter TNG offers cross-platform security, including access control, authentication, authorization, administration, auditing and real-time monitoring. It enhances native-system security through advanced log-in and access controls, calendar restrictions and facilities to protect files, even from privileged users. It gives security officers a central point of control for security-related functions, including a single log file for security-related messages and advanced reporting facilities. The system also allows end-users to access multiple, enterprise-wide applications with a single user-ID and password.

Another upgrade currently under development is the marriage of the Software House C*ure 800 security management system and Unicenter TNG to monitor every networked device. In its normal role, Unicenter TNG takes care of all the hardware on a network. It detects such items as a PC that is running out of memory or malfunctioning by sending an alert to the system administrator. Unicenter TNG keeps an eye on all devices in the security system, reporting on any problems or potential situations that might compromise security. Regardless of the vigilance of a security force, anomalies such as a guard unintentionally kicking a plug and causing a screen to fail can happen on occasion. Unicenter TNG detects these changes and alerts security management, acting like a system cop that doesn't miss a thing.

Security beyond the basics "Fortune" magazine recently cited Computer Associates as one of the 100 best employers in America. And one of the reasons is that the company provides employees with heavily subsidized on-site child development services. The company also applies the latest security technology to its child development center. State-of-the-art door management alarms and a closed-circuit TV network help to keep the children safe and secure.

Computer Associates is also sensitive to the needs of the disabled. Two new buildings in Herndon, Va., and Framingham, Mass., as well as the child development facility in Islandia, are equipped with Horton automatic door operators that were custom fabricated for compliance to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and to be aesthetically pleasing. When the C*Cure 800 system detects cards belonging to the disabled, it prevents the doors from closing for an extended period of time to help the individual enter the facility.

Minimizing installation headaches Security integrator Antar-Com Inc., White Plains, N.Y., designed and implemented the security system at the Islandia site, as well as security systems at other Computer Associates locations throughout the country. Each aspect of the system is first designed on CAD, then fabricated in the integrator's shop to ensure uniformity and prevent disruption on-site during installation.

"I've been hired by many smaller firms that collectively lose one or two laptops per week," says Isac Tabib, Antar-Com Inc.'s security integration consultant. "Although Computer Associates is more than 100 times larger than many of these clients, it is so security-minded that its rate of loss is almost zero."

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