MAE Powers Secure Energy Trading with Check Point

“Both the rapid deployment
and the quality of the Check
Point solution saved us money.
By simply adding the ClusterXL
solution to our existing Check
Point VPN-1, we did not have
to drastically alter our firewall
environment, which represents
a big savings.”
Longinus Timochenco
MAE Security Officer
Customer Name
Mercado Atacadista de Energia
Electrica (MAE)
INdustry
Energy
CheCk PoINt ProduCts
n VPN-1 ® Power
n ClusterXL ®
Customer Needs met
n Delivered non-stop security for
online energy transactions
n Improved network performance
n Provided fast deployment
n Offered substantial cost savings
A Customer suCCess story
MAE Powers Secure Energy
Trading with Check Point
ABout mAe
Mercado Atacadista de Energia Electrica (MAE) provides a unique service in the
Brazilian energy market—it is an online exchange for energy traders. As a not-forprofit
private organization regulated by Brazil’s National Electric Energy Agency
(ANELL), MAE began operations in September 2000, to enable the purchase and
sale of electric energy by market agents who represent companies that generate,
distribute, and sell both commercial and consumer energy. Energy company
agents and customers conduct business and communicate through the MAE
data center, and MAE guarantees the integrity of the information, ensures transaction
security, and is responsible for administrating the financial, accounting,
and operational tasks within this market.
tHe mAe CHALLeNGe
Like a stock exchange or any online transaction processing system, MAE can’t
tolerate data loss or corruption or system downtime. To ensure 24/7 availability
of its security environment, MAE maintained redundant firewall servers—one
in production and one on standby. “The non-operating server represented a
large investment that we were not using to our best advantage,” says Longinus
Timochenco, MAE security officer. “We decided to place both servers in operation
simultaneously through load balancing, which would improve system
performance, data integrity, and scalability.”
However, when MAE tried to implement a cluster solution from their existing
vendor, it did not integrate with MAE’s Check Point firewall solution. When
the existing vendor could not resolve the compatibility problem, Timochenco
turned to Check Point for a clustered firewall solution.

the CheCk PoINt soLutIoN
As a security specialist, Timochenco was familiar with the
major companies specializing in Internet security solutions.
“We thoroughly analyzed Internet security products and solutions
from all the major vendors and the only solution that met
all of our criteria and prerequisites for functionality, scalability,
local support, and timely implementation was Check Point,”
he explains. So MAE called Check Point value-added reseller
partner Compugraf to implement the solution.
Brazil’s energy marketplace is now protected by Check
Point VPN-1 ® Power on a high availability two-way server
cluster. VPN-1 Power combines Check Point’s marketleading
FireWall-1 ® and VPN technologies for the highest
level of Internet, intranet, and extranet secure connectivity
for corporate networks, remote and mobile users, and
business partners.
Check Point ClusterXL is a software-based load sharing
and high availability solution that enables the distribution of
traffic between multiple redundant gateways to combine and
increase throughput. When one gateway server is unreachable,
all connections are automatically redirected to the other
without interruption.
“The most impressive aspect of Check Point technology
is the proper integration of firewalls and load balancing,”
says Timochenco. “MAE was the first company in Brazil to
implement ClusterXL, and we became a model for other
companies solving the same problems.”
MAE rounds out its security environment with Web content filtering,
intrusion detection protection, and antivirus software,
all from Check Point OPSEC partners.
the BeNeFIts oF CheCk PoINt seCurIty
more reliable security
“We have a 99.9 percent availability goal for the components in
our data center,” says Edson Lugli, MAE technology architecture
manager. “With ClusterXL we have eliminated the risk of
losing user connections in the event of equipment malfunction.”
CoNtaCt CheCk PoINt
According to Timochenco, ClusterXL provides MAE with
important improvements in its network security environment.
“We have improved transparency, data integrity, and a perfect
view of network activity.”
Better scalability for Business Growth
The improved scalability afforded by the clustered Check Point
gateway allows MAE to expand its secure environment to
meet its business needs and offer new and innovative market
solutions to our partners. “The solution completely adheres
to the transaction security policies in our virtual environment
established by our regulator, ANELL,” adds Timochenco.
Fast deployment
The Check Point ClusterXL solution was implemented very
quickly. In fact, the implementation was completed in 24
hours. “Both planning and implementation were extremely
efficient,” says Lugli. “This was a major component for us in
considering the solution a success.”
substantial Cost savings
Timochenco notes some major cost benefits to the Check
Point solution. “Both the rapid deployment and the quality of
the Check Point solution saved us money. By simply adding
the ClusterXL solution to our existing Check Point VPN-1,
we did not have to drastically alter our firewall environment,
which represents a big savings.” In addition, he reports a
40 percent reduction in system administration costs through
time saved.
the Future oF mae GrouP
Securing the information in MAE’s environment is a critical
requirement because the electric energy sector generates 15
percent of Brazil’s gross industrial product (GIP). Later, MAE
will look closely at Check Point VPN-1 SecuRemote ® and
SecureClient tools to enhance remote access security to the
corporate network.
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