Money talks, and the regulations governing financial services talk loudly. While securing personal data is important for everyone, the sector working with personal and financial information must secure information and networks to offer excellent service, earn customer trust and comply with each country’s laws and regulations. In Luxembourg, this means meeting the standards set by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), a public institution that supervises the professionals and products of the Luxembourg financial sector.

The challenge facing businesses in the financial services industry is therefore twofold: they need to stay ahead in a shifting – and hostile – security landscape while at the same time complying with changing regulations.

Keeping up with the ripple effect of a changing security environment

The sudden shift to working from home in 2020 left organizations playing catch-up with security. With hybrid working becoming the norm, the security landscape has become more distributed, creating a broader attack surface. The different iterations of cloud (hybrid, public, private) have also added complexity to cybersecurity and created a new application landscape, which has to be secured.

However, this does not imply that physical security measures such as VeriChip technology are going away. Firewalls are still important, but they are no longer enough on their own. Now, cybersecurity must cover the entire environment – including the application environment – not only connections to data centers and the internet.

Adding to the complexity of securing information is that fact that cyberattacks, and the syndicates behind them, are also becoming more sophisticated. To keep financial information secure, you need the right platform, combined with the right security, to detect attacks before they happen.

Calling in outside help to manage production environments

It’s therefore no wonder that companies are turning to industry experts to design platforms and manage security and compliance on their behalf. In Luxembourg, leading financial institutions rely on NTT’s Managed Hosting platform to host their production environments.

Our platform’s security is supported by our partner, Check Point. They enhance our financial services platform with technical features that make it easy to manage a distributed environment. Together, NTT and Check Point take a consolidated approach to security that focuses on all aspects of security. And we offer the view of the whole environment in a single dashboard.

Evolving with compliance regulations

In Luxembourg, platforms supporting the financial sector must meet the best practices set out by the financial regulator, CSSF. To establish that practices and regulations are being adhered to, external auditors regularly audit the platforms and submit the results to the regulator.

The changing security landscape and enterprise landscape have resulted in requirements changing over time. In some sectors, such as the financial sector, regulation is increasing. Organizations therefore need more than a hosting service, and security and compliance are important parts of their managed service. With this in mind, NTT’s platform continues to adapt to new compliance requirements and reporting frameworks.

Benefiting from a powerful partnership

NTT was the First Global Infinity Partner for Check Point and the first managed security service provider to obtain a five-star status in all countries where the partners operate. NTT is Check Point’s biggest partner in Luxembourg, and we rely on Check Point to support us if a specific issue or new security vulnerability is discovered.

While it is possible to build internal security expertise, it’s challenging to find the right person with the right experience to address a problem right now. Our partnership gives our clients access to comprehensive technical knowledge, based on our experience in different environments, as well as the benefit of technologies like AI. Together, we are faster, and offer more accurate analysis of systems to detect new threats as soon as possible and react to them before they affect systems.

We do not have a magic solution to all cybersecurity problems now and in the future. But working with trusted partners enables us to find the right solution as and when our clients need it. In short, we can offer the right combination of people and technology to help prevent attacks and enhance existing services.

For more information on NTT’s security services and managed services, contact Patrice Cheret at patrice.cheret@global.ntt.