GMG Radio is one of Britains leading radio groups with two main brands - Real Radio and Smooth FM broadcasting in London, Wales, Scotland, Yorkshire and the North West. The group already has a weekly audience of 2.7 million adults.

With radio enjoying a resurgence by targeting specialised audiences and age groups, Real Radio and Smooth FM brands are providing pop and easy listening music, competing largely against Radio 2. Real Radio targets a family audience of 25-44 year olds with talk shows and pop music from the last four decades. Smooth FM broadcasts relaxing music and more specialist jazz and soul output in the evenings.

In many ways, GMG Radio’s IT function drives the group’s operations, rather than supporting them. The IT infrastructure - based on Windows 2003 server and Windows 2000 desktops - is the foundation for digital broadcast and advertising applications running smoothly. Working under Technical Director Gary Bridge, Group IT Manager Dafydd Thomas and a team of broadcast engineers based at different studios make all this happen.

GMG Radio wanted to improve the level of anti-virus (AV) security and reduce the time spent on AV administration without compromising broadcast quality. The group has been able to achieve this using Norman Virus Control from security software specialist Norman Data Defense Systems.

As well as web-borne threats, the IT team were conscious of the risks from a flexible work environment. “We have a lot of people coming in for shifts or short periods, so people may bring in malware inadvertently on rogue laptops or other computers. You have to be checking security risks all the time."

The GMG Radio group IT department had previously operated another vendor’s AV software for several years. However, with the group’s network under constant threat, the IT team felt that the existing AV software was not active enough in identifying malware. GMG Radio also wanted more dynamic technical support.

Dafydd Thomas said: “The AV software was expensive and we were disappointed with the standard of technical back up. On one occasion, we were in a dispute with the provider over whether the problem was a virus or not, so they failed to release a new virus definition to detect the virus for some weeks. As a broadcaster, we live and die by maintaining continual broadcasting for our listeners and a trouble free environment for the production team, so that situation couldn’t go on."

As a result of these issues, Dafydd carried out an evaluation of alternative AV solutions with the aim of finding a new provider. This was based on a mixture of trials with software and his own trials with malware in a test situation. Impressed by all the products, he chose Norman’s Virus Control for three reasons: firstly it did not noticeably slow down any applications and updated “silently" in the background. Critically too, its core SandBox technology did not rely on traditional virus signatures - it could actively monitor virus threats. Finally, the technical support was more assured.

Dafydd explains that security software can impede business operations if not properly managed: “Some AV products can slow down or adversely affect audio quality. We also have very strict performance criteria - we can’t lose quality or a second of broadcast time or we’re in trouble with the advertisers. And you can imagine what the presenters’ reaction would be if they got some kind of update or error message when they’re on air.

“The second main factor in Norman Virus Control’s favour was the SandBox technology, which is proactive rather than relying on a signature database - that gave us further confidence."

The clinching argument was Norman’s ability to provide direct technical advice and support to GMG Radio’s team during the evaluation and implementation. Dafydd said that this contrasted with some of his recent experiences: “Sometimes you have to go through various intermediaries. With Norman we spoke to senior advisers who could offer practical help."

The security expertise and direct support from Norman is an important differentiator according to Norman’s UK general manager, David Robinson: “Many users believe that AV has become commoditised or that the vendors’ security consultants are competing with their own resellers. Norman is keen that customers receive advice from expert, qualified professionals so that the course of action is clear."

Norman was eventually chosen for 220 workstations across the five sites, with roll out in April. The new AV solution is working successfully and has delivered GMG Radio a number of operational benefits. Top of the list is that the amount of time that Dafydd and the production engineers spend on virus identification and clear up has been halved.

Dafydd said: “Before, we had to spend a certain amount of time mopping up after a virus, cleaning infected laptops or whatever. That work tended to fall somewhere between me and the production engineers. That’s been cut by 50 per cent, which is great."

The other major benefit is more efficient virus monitoring using the SandBox technology. “We’re trapping more viruses and we don’t have to look out for new attacks: they’re caught by SandBox."

David Robinson at Norman explains: “Our AV products all feature SandBox technology. Unlike signature-based technologies, SandBox detects new and unknown viruses based on the actual actions performed by the incoming files. This involves letting the file play in a simulated environment. If the file acts suspiciously, it will be denied access to the real computer. This means that GMG Radio have peace of mind."

Dafydd Thomas believes that the Norman Virus Control has helped operational efficiency: “We’re providing an effective defence against viruses and we’re less tied up with administrative and clear up work. With Norman in place, we have the platform to look at more sophisticated monitoring between sites in the future. We’re very pleased so far."