Financial Institutions and Cloud Security

Financial institutions were nervous about making the move to the cloud for a long time. After all, cyber criminals are after cash, and financial customers are a target rich environment. But improvements and innovations in cloud security have made the  investment a viable choice for financial institutions, affording flexibility and scalability with more security.  For many banks, cost reduction and efficiency are two major benefits they can now access.

By 2018, 80 percent of major financial institutions had adopted Azure, including behemoths such as Bank of America. But its not only major financial institutions looking to make the move. Smaller banks and credit unions are deciding for this solution as well. And while some smaller organizations have been wary to move data offsite and into the cloud, most experts believe that they are simply delaying the inevitable.

But banks and financial institutions of all sizes need numerous benefits from a technology solution, and the cloud is only one piece of the puzzle. Here are more tips.

• SD-WAN: As financial institutions migrate their essential and critical applications to the cloud, traditional WAN architectures can make it difficult to prioritize and secure their traffic. But the software of an SD-WAN permits organizations to design hybrid WAN architectures that use multiple paths to automatically determine the best network path for the apps running on the network. It enables the bank to prioritize certain apps over less important traffic. For banks with branch locations, SD-WAN can streamline how traffic is routed in branches and improve cloud connectivity. “SD-WAN is absolutely critical, because it is the vehicle most likely to bring true virtualization to networking. Without virtualization in the network, virtualization in the cloud or data center will never be fully realized or effective.” Tom Nolle, president of CIMI Corporation
• Cloud Access Security Brokers: As data, services and applications are migrated to the cloud, data transfers which take place between cloud apps can be rendered invisible to network security infrastructure. Cloud access security brokers help companies to monitor traffic and identify risky apps and users. “It’s an automated watchdog looking over the shoulders of your users.” – Eric Andrews, Vice President, Symantec

Managed Services Can Shine a Light

For financial institutions looking to migrate to the cloud, security is a major issue. While they want transparency on their network infrastructure, and the ability to monitor what their employees are doing on the cloud based applications; they also want to make sure their mission critical data is protected and secure.

While major financial institutions have mostly made the move to cloud services, smaller financial institutions may still be tentatively considering the move. No matter your industry, the cloud offers maximum flexibility, economies of scale, and can now provide the security that most organizations require.

For more information on how to migrate to the cloud and take advantage of cloud services, call Alliance IT today. It is our mission to make sure that Sarasota area small to mid-sized businesses reach their IT and business goals.