Interviews

RTL2: High Performance Requirements for VPN Systems

Do media companies place special requirements on IT security? And what are the current challenges? RTL2 is one of genua's long-standing customers – an interview with Reinhard Görtner, Head of IT & CIO, RTL2 Fernsehen GmbH & CO. KG.

As a media company, what special requirements do you have with respect to your IT security?

Reinhard Görtner: On the one hand, IT security is – as in any other company – the basis for smooth business operations. On the other hand, as a media company we are very much in the limelight and consequently have increased security needs. This is compounded by the large data volumes that arise from high-resolution videos and the fact that the throughput of this data cannot be slowed by security solutions.

Have your IT security requirements changed over the years? If so, how?

Reinhard Görtner: In the past, our security requirements focused on protecting our internal network against unauthorized access from the outside. Today, we need to assume that perimeter protection is just one part of our security strategy. The opening of our network for our external offices and partners around the world poses further challenges.

Is it important for you to use IT security solutions made in Germany?

Reinhard Görtner: We greatly appreciate that, with genua, we have a partner that develops its products in Germany and – should the need arise – can respond quickly on-site in the event of an emergency thanks to its location in the greater Munich area.

You have been using the High Resistance Firewall genugate from genua since 1998 and are among the company's very first customers. How has the firewall served you in use?

Reinhard Görtner: Simply the fact we are aware of no incident since 1998 in which our genugate firewall was breached by an attacker shows that the solution has proven itself.

What in particular do you value about the genugate firewall?

Reinhard Görtner: Big plus points are the high availability and the possibility to completely control the data traffic that runs through the firewall.

For the connection of your new locations, you opted for the Firewall & VPN Appliance genuscreen. Why did you select these systems from genua?

Reinhard Görtner: We have for years had good experiences using genuscreen for encrypted data exchange via VPN with our partners. It seemed only logical to us to connect our new locations using proven technology.

Do your VPN systems need to satisfy especially high performance requirements?

Reinhard Görtner: As a media company we work with large data volumes, especially with video. We do, therefore, have high requirements on the performance of our VPN systems.

For central administration, you use the Central Management Station genucenter. What tasks do you perform with it and how do you assess the management station?

Reinhard Görtner: Up to now, we haven’t used the Central Management Station genucenter ourselves, as genua has performed that work for us thus far. That will change with the installation of the new components.

genua support handles the administration of the the security solutions. What are your experiences with this service?

Reinhard Görtner: The administration of our systems by genua support runs very well. Queries are processed quickly and competently.

With respect to IT security, what challenges do you see for your company?

Reinhard Görtner: The high-performance and secure connection of our locations and partners is, in addition to the appropriate response to future threats, one of the greatest challenges of the future.