Zscaler, Inc., a provider of cloud-delivered multi-tenant Security as a Service (SaaS), has announced that API Group -- a manufacturer of specialized packaging materials with businesses located in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, USA and Asia-Pacific -- has selected it for powerful Web 2.0 security protection. Zscaler will enforce Internet business policies, manage employee Web usage, and protect API Group globally against online threats and risk.

Before choosing Zscaler's cloud-based approach, API Group's IT department was backhauling Internet traffic from all international offices to two central gateways in the UK and US, where URL and anti-virus filtering was handled using a traditional on-premise Web proxy-based solution. The company had recently purchased a new Multi Packet Label Switching (MPLS) network and the backhauling of Internet traffic was wasting valuable bandwidth.

Global Infrastructure Manager of API Group, Patrick Kittle, said: "Reducing the Internet traffic running across our MPLS network was paramount for us, and traditional on-premise solutions simply could not do this without introducing additional hardware or software. Beyond that, Zscaler was much more in tune with the advanced threats we're starting to see on the Internet--even providing scanning of SSL traffic."

He continued: "Before Zscaler, we were spending time and money managing an on-premise proxy server with a URL filter plug-in and an antivirus plug-in. All three of these controls were bypassed by our remote workers. We feel like Zscaler has doubled our Web security and management capabilities while halving the cost and complexity."

The Zscaler security service protects API Group against a range of advanced security threats, such as malicious active code, botnets, cookie theft and phishing attacks. The service also enforces granular user-based policies for Web 2.0 applications, provides URL filtering (including Dynamic Content Classification) and allows management of Internet bandwidth. The service additionally gives API Group full visibility of their security posture through a visual dashboard and powerful, real-time consolidated logging and reporting. Zscaler's distributed cloud nodes enable mobile users to enjoy the same protection as office-based users without experiencing increased latency. And for API Group, as with other customers, Zscaler means no additional hardware or software is needed at the gateway; they can simply forward Internet-bound traffic to the Zscaler cloud directly from existing workstations or gateways within their network.