Fukuoka Financial Group Advances Digital Transformation and Deploys Netskope to Achieve Zero Trust in Development

Digital transformation at FFG is grounded in in-house development. Tatsuya Negami, General Manager of the System Solutions Department in the Digital Transformation Promotion Division, explains “in vendor-dependent system development, it is difficult to quickly respond to changes in customer needs and digital technologies. FFG aims to build a highly agile development framework that can flexibly adapt to internal and external changes. We develop systems in-house for strengthening digital touchpoints—such as personal banking apps and the BIZSHIP business portal—as well as shared operational systems across the group banks.”

The department has introduced hybrid work to improve productivity and accommodate diverse workstyles. With the rapid growth of in-house development members, the key challenge became balancing security with usability.

*Digital Transformation Stocks: A program led by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), selecting publicly listed companies that demonstrate excellence in digital transformation initiatives.

Explaining the decision, Fumihiro Yamamura of the System Solutions Department states “Netskope had a clear advantage in CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker) capabilities, which visualize and control access to cloud services. Because it allows granular control of actions such as file uploads and downloads, we can reduce information-leakage risks while expanding the range of services developers can safely use.”

Achieving zero trust requires multiple services and capabilities. “Using several products complicates operations. Netskope provides CASB as well as Cloud Firewall (CFW) and other essential capabilities in one platform, helping simplify operations. It also offers many options we can enable later when needed. Another key point was its support for both MacOS and Windows, with rapid compatibility for OS version updates,” says Nawata.

Endpoint security in development environments has also been enhanced. “Many vendors can detect and block suspicious communication after it begins. Netskope determines this at the domain level and blocks suspicious communication before it starts. It also enforces login blocking for unauthorized services, helping eliminate shadow IT,” says Nawata.

Regarding future initiatives, Nawata adds “we are also testing options such as Advanced UEBA, which scores user-specific risk, and Advanced DLP, a comprehensive data-protection solution. We aim to implement even more advanced controls.”

On the significance of deploying Netskope, Negami adds “in hiring and retaining engineers, the development environment is a key factor. With Netskope, we can ensure financial-grade security while enabling engineers to use the latest technologies. By safely leveraging cloud services and AI tools under Netskope control, we aim to improve development efficiency.”

Building a zero-trust environment with Netskope supports FFG’s in-house development and accelerates digital transformation across the organization.