Report:
Banking Issues
Information Issues in
Banking!
The interesting aspect of the
banking vertical is that while there are no unusual proprietary concerns, there
is an enormous priority placed on certain aspects of mainstream technologies.
The banking industry is concerned primarily with security, system reliability,
data protection, and e-commerce—all mainstream technologies. The only
difference is that failure in any one of these areas can be extremely costly in
financial terms, as well as job security and even personal freedom!
The reality created by this situation is that
vertical market vendors in cooperation with the banking industry require that
their systems operate in a vacuum-like atmosphere. Because infotex
is in an independent, objective position, we can help banking clients sort
through the integration issues associated with this reality.
This Starts With Security… A
bank has to be secure. Period. That’s why banks exist. Despite the fact that
proprietary system vendors have made admirable efforts to insure this security,
seemingly mundane operations such as connecting your teller line to the Internet
could drastically compromise even the best of security designs.
Because we have CPA’s on staff, infotex
has a strong affiliation with the Indiana CPA Society and can, therefore,
conduct very thorough Security Assessments. Not only will we perform Perimeter
Tests using the latest attack methods, but we can also assess your internal
controls. Our assessment procedure is endorsed by the CPA Society and our CPA’s
undergo stringent training. We also rely on CISSP level security engineers to
direct our audit procedures. We have affiliations with national security firms
that can assist with network monitoring and intrusion detection services. We can
insure that your IT staff is supplied with the appropriate system alerts that
are tailored to your bank’s individual needs.
…And Ends With Reliability. At
infotex, we
consider many aspects of reliability, including Data Protection (backup systems,
archiving, data warehousing, etc.), Business Policies (end-user controls,
disaster-recovery planning, etc.), and Network Engineering (redundancy, system
maintenance, data integrity, etc.). Our network engineers make sure that your
bank’s Information Technology Plan insures that "downtime" is at the
convenience of your bank, not at the mercy of your system. The Information
Architecture process works to maintain a cost-effective, reliable, and secure
balance between all components of your Information System.
A tip of the iceberg:
Just some of the questions that must be
answered when designing network security and reliability include:
 | Should you outsource security or bring it
in-house? |
| What restrictions should you put on Network
and Internet access at the Teller level? Administration? Credit Processing?
Customer? |
| What type of intrusion detection monitoring
is adequate? Who are the players? Which security companies are the most
reliable? What liability issues are involved? |
| What network monitoring services should you
use? How do you communicate this to your employees? What computing policies
should be in place? |
| How are you securing your portable devices
and PDA’s? Cell phones? Internet Sites? |
| What documentation must be kept for security
and reliability? How often should it be updated? |
| Which systems should be redundant and how
much should that cost? |
| What process is in place to insure that new
systems do not degrade existing system security? |
What other considerations are there?
Of course, the issues that a bank’s
Information Technology Plan must address go far beyond security and reliability.
Banking in the new millennium must consider:
| Where is the cutting edge and how far from it
should your bank be? |
| What processes are in place to respond to
changing regulations (such as the new privacy rules)? |
| Who should have remote access? What
confidentiality agreements must be on file? |
| How computer literate are your employees? How
literate do you want them to be? What can you do to address the difference? |
| What other "Internet Services" do
you need now and in the future? |
| How about your larger customers? Can you help
them automate their statement reconciliation process? What information
SHOULD you be able to provide to commercial accounts? |
| How can you use information to personalize
your customers’ experience? What technologies are available that can make
the banking experience more user friendly? |
Other Reports
Data Warehousing
Fax
Servers
DSL - The Next Wave in Kokomo
Connectivity!
Firewall Considerations
Lock the Doors
To learn more about infotex,
visit us at
www.infotex.ws,
or call us at (800) 466-9939.
Fax to (765) 236-2333!
infotex
. . . we make IT work!
(an affiliate of Bucheri McCarty & Metz LLP)
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