Case study: The Leading Edge calls Proofpoint to disable Botnet attack

"I have backed up their systems with Proofpoint so it has given me an extra layer of security. It’s brought my security in-house rather than relying on other companies to manage it from overseas,” said Lineen.

Within 24 hours, The Leading Edge had deployed a Proofpoint appliance, which immediately stopped outgoing spam.

The company's IT staff then set about eradicating the botnet infection and, when that was done, getting The Leading Edge removed from a number of spam blacklist services that were still stopping some outgoing emails from being delivered.

“These days security threats are changing. The spammers are getting clever – we call them blended threats because as soon as you resolve one thing it masks itself into doing something else,” said Lineen.

“Proofpoint prevented spam leaving the organisation as well as coming in. The solution we had before assumed the problem was on the outside.

“We are confident it won’t happen again. That particular type of threat has been diminished but who knows what can happen. We used to think it was ok just to have anti-virus software, but that isn’t the case anymore.

“The key thing for me is that I can sleep more soundly now. The Proofpoint solution gives me control inside my network of what’s coming in and going out,” he added.

According to Lineen, Proofpoint has detected 14 spam-borne viruses in the last month that its other solution had let through.

"Spam is not just a problem that exists outside the organisation. It is just as possible to be something that comes from within," said Gerry Tucker, regional head Proofpoint APAC.

“Spam is growing because of botnets and we are seeing it affect more and more organisations. In many ways outbound spam causes more problems than inbound.

“Blacklisting, for example, can be very disruptive. The bottom line is, if you rely on email and you want to ensure your email works 24 x 7, you need a solution that stops outgoing as well as incoming spam," he added.

Since its launch in 1990 The Leading Edge has grown to a business of over 100 employees.

With offices in Australia, Asia and Europe, the company undertakes projects around the world for its clients such as Fonterra Brands, Yum!, KFC and Pizza Hut, Vodafone, Microsoft, Glaxo SmithKline, David Jones and Fosters Group.