Safe Systems, SilverBack Plug Banks' Security Holes

Until recently bank auditors were not enforcing the act, but in the past year "the auditors were called to Washington, D.C., and told if hackers and identity theft have the same impact on the financial services market as the terrorists had on the airline industry, they'd be in big trouble," said Danny Johnston, president and CEO of Safe Systems, based here. "So now auditors are coming into banks saying, 'Show me how you're protecting your customers' assets.' "

Technology plays a key role in this protection. Safe Systems, which acts as a technology consultant to more than 400 banks, identifies security holes and comes up with an analysis of what needs to be added or changed.

"We make the recommendations and tell them who to call to get the equipment and help them get it up and running," Johnston said. And once the right security measures are in place,from firewalls to authentication,Safe Systems brings in SilverBack Technology's InfoCare Web-based network, systems and application-monitoring software to make sure the banks maintain compliance.

The InfoCare system resides in Safe Systems' network operations center, but bank employees can remotely produce reports based on activities such as server monitoring, including who accesses the server, and e-mail exchanges.

Safe Systems also develops security analysis reports that identify weaknesses that might be used to gain unauthorized access to a bank's systems and information.

"Banks can have a guard at the gate, but they need an alarm. SilverBack acts as that alarm and motion detector for a bank's systems," Johnston said.

When Billerica, Mass.-based SilverBack and Safe Systems implemented InfoCare, Patti Faglier, executive vice president and COO of The People's Bank, said she was alarmed by the number of attempted hacks on its systems.

"SilverBack tells us if there are any security holes on the servers, gives us an explanation and shows us how to fix them," Faglier said. "They know if we have a problem before we do."

Safe Systems steps in to make server or network changes when necessary. The People's Bank, Winder, Ga., has been working with Safe Systems since 1998, with the solution provider aiding in developing the architecture of the bank's WAN, which spans six branch locations.

The InfoCare system also addressed performance issues for The People's Bank. By monitoring bandwidth usage, for example, bank executives discovered they were paying for more bandwidth than they needed.

"I feel like we're more secure and have a more stable network because we're dealing with issues more proactively vs. waiting for something to happen," Faglier said. "When the auditor comes, we can say, 'We're already doing 24x7 intrusion detection, and this is how we're protecting our customers' assets.' "

More than 50 banks have signed up for the Safe Systems/SilverBack service, with about eight new banks signing up each month, Johnston said.

SilverBack recently began training its partners to sell vertical solutions, including those in the banking and health-care industries. The company works with partners serving such industries to produce vertically focused brochures, service packages and pricing structures.

"We teach them what problems a certain vertical is dealing with and how SilverBack can address the problems in a hospital environment, for example, where critical equipment needs to be monitored," said James Hare, vice president of business development at SilverBack.