Raiffeisen Information Service (RIS) is a Bolzano-based company that provides IT services to the Raiffeisen Association. The Association brings together various legal entities from the South Tyrolean area, including Cassa Centrale Raiffeisen and 39 Casse Raiffeisen from Alto Adige, for a total of about 2,300 users who use RIS services.
Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) – Confidently adopt cloud applications and services without sacrificing security.
Next Gen Secure Web Gateway (SWG) – The foundation for SSE web and cloud inline security providing threat and data protection.
SaaS Security Posture Management – Continuously monitor and enforce SaaS security settings, policies, and best practices to reduce security and compliance risks.
Secure use of Microsoft 365 cloud applications
Consolidation of various technologies in a single platform
Cloud security as a business accelerator
The widespread adoption of cloud applications and services across the Raiffeisen Association banks made it critical that they review the existing security architecture in place, which was largely dependent on on-premise appliances which offered no visibility or control of data traveling to and from—or sitting within—cloud services.
With the adoption of the Microsoft 365 platform, the need arose to integrate Microsoft’s native security components with a modern and efficient cloud access security broker (CASB) system enriched with secure web gateway (SWG), as well as security service edge (SSE) features delivered in the cloud.
RIS introduced the Netskope platform to replace outdated systems, such as web content filtering, with the aim of consolidating security governance through more efficient infrastructure management, using less internal resources, and saving on maintenance times and costs.
Using cloud applications and services in the banking world means being able to rely on the highest level of protection from cyber threats. One of the discriminating factors in the competition for the choice of the security provider had to be the percentage of coverage on Microsoft’s cloud world. In addition, the technological choice was made on drivers that would allow security to be in line with the new business needs of the Association.
The choice to go with Netskope was dictated by the variety of modules offered and the extensive coverage of the perimeter that Netskope offers compared to other vendors.
Today, the 2,300 Casse Raiffeisen users take advantage of the Netskope Intelligent SSE technology, focused on risk reduction and high data protection standards, to guarantee secure access to the web and to all Microsoft cloud applications and beyond.
RIS has implemented several Netskope solutions. These include Next Gen Secure Web Gateway (NG-SWG), enriched by Advanced Threat Protection and the innovative features of Remote Browser Isolation (RBI), to obtain the highest level of visibility and inline control on users’ internet traffic, decrypting and protecting normal web browsing, rather than interacting with managed and unmanaged SaaS / IaaS cloud tools.
Other Netskope technologies RIS implemented include the CASB API Protection solutions for Microsoft OneDrive Sharepoint, Microsoft Teams, and Exchange online, and SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) for continuous monitoring of configurations and the Office 365 environment.
Risk mitigation and data protection are applied both at the Inline and API level.
The Netskope Security Service Edge architecture offers modules and features that other vendors do not offer with similar levels of effectiveness and efficiency: the feedback has also been very positive in the user experience. Netskope has proved to be a concrete and reactive company, both in technological, operational and functional terms.
The benefits of implementing all of these solutions for the 2,300 Raiffeisen Association’s users can be summarized on three levels.
From a technical point of view, Netskope not only represents the platform for secure adoption of cloud services for RIS, but it has also made it possible to replace other internally managed security solutions, leading to a consolidation of the various technological components in a single cloudnative platform, reducing the burden of daily management. In addition, the SaaS component allows for immediate feedback on the user experience and allows technological security to be seen as an accelerator of the company’s business, as opposed to an operational block.
From an economic point of view, a single platform for the management of safety helped RIS save on costs related to resources, man hours and maintenance.
Finally, the introduction of the Netskope platform has not only solved the current operational needs related to Microsoft 365, but it will also support the new business choices that Raiffeisen Association has foreseen in its development plan.