How to Strengthen Zero Trust Frameworks for Financial Services

In the modern digital landscape, financial services institutions (FSIs) are prime targets for cybersecurity threats. These threats are inflated as critical data and applications are migrated to the cloud. NETSCOUT is among the network security experts that strongly encourage FSIs to implement the zero trust security architecture to mitigate these risks.

The zero trust framework secures financial entities by ensuring trust is never implicit. It requires continuous verification of each digital interaction throughout a session. Having the right toolset in your security stack is key to fortifying zero trust initiatives.

NETSCOUT, in partnership with Palo Alto Networks and AWS, has the solution to your problems. Powered by comprehensive network visibility, dynamic access control, compliance monitoring, and threat detection tailored to the specific needs of FSIs, NETSCOUT's Omnis Network Security can help shore up your defenses and keep your network secure.

NETSCOUT and Zero Trust: 5 Key Areas for Success

Network security is paramount for FSIs. Implementing the zero trust framework helps assure a strong security stance in order to keep the network secure. Here are five key areas where NETSCOUT can assist in creating a stout security stack:

1. Continuous network visibility: NETSCOUT enables constant visibility into key areas of cloud environments, thanks to the instrumentation of vCyberSteam and the real-time monitoring provided by Omnis Cyber Intelligence (OCI). This empowers teams to see who is doing what throughout the entire network environment—from cloud to hybrid cloud to on-premises infrastructure—to ensure that all interactions are following a zero trust strategy.
2. Dynamic access control and adaptive security: OCI enables dynamic access control within zero trust network architectures. It does so by providing granular visibility into individual user behavior, leveraging contextual information such as authentication status, device type, and user location. This helps FSIs make informed decisions dynamically and as needed for adjusting security policies related to access.
3. Threat detection and verification: Multiple threat detection methods are integrated into OCI to verify the effectiveness of zero trust policies tailored to the financial industry's specific needs. NETSCOUT products detect and alert on known weak/self-signed ciphers, known vulnerable protocols, and other potential risks and poor practices so organizations can monitor their adherence to zero trust principles.  Security teams can also use the host groups feature in OCI to create custom policies specifically tailored to zero trust requirements for key financial applications.
4. Continuous compliance monitoring: By using OCI to automate regulatory reporting and alerts on compliance issues, FSIs gain continuous adherence to regulatory reporting and alerting guidelines within the zero trust framework. 
   Incident response and remediation: OCI helps FSIs enhance incident response and remediation via actionable insights and forensic data analysis. This allows teams to identify the root cause quickly, contain the threat, and initiate remediation actions to restore security posture.

NETSCOUT Integration with Palo Alto Networks NGFW and Cloud Providers

NETSCOUT integrates with Palo Alto Networks' ML-Powered Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) and AWS to add further value to zero trust frameworks. It does so by extending security capabilities and enhancing interoperability.

• Integration with Palo Alto Networks: The approach Palo Alto Networks takes to zero trust frameworks involves an approach to cybersecurity that eliminates implicit trust and continuously validates every stage of digital interactions for users, for infrastructure, and to secure an organization. OCI fits into this by leveraging the NGFW's strict security rules and blocking capabilities to ensure that only authorized traffic is let through, further enhancing the security posture of FSIs.
• Integration with AWS Security Hub: OCI integrates with AWS to enhance visibility and control within cloud environments. OCI extends its network visibility capabilities by leveraging cloud-native monitoring and traffic analysis tools, ensuring consistent enforcement of zero trust policies in FSI AWS environments.

3 Primary Business Values for Financial Services Institutions

Tying initiatives back to the bottom line is key for any enterprise, especially those in the financial sector. OCI provides business benefits that impact operations and financial priorities. These include:

1. Operational efficiency: With OCI's integrated solution, FSIs can streamline their security operations and reduce the time and resources spent on monitoring, remediation, and policy enforcement. This solution, powered by automated dynamic access control, threat detection, and compliance monitoring processes, allows FSIs to address threats and compliance requirements while proactively reducing operational overhead.
2. Enhanced security: FSIs can strengthen their security posture within zero trust frameworks by leveraging the comprehensive OCI solution stack and integrations. This mitigates the risk of unauthorized access and data breaches while enhancing overall security resilience by integrating with Palo Alto Networks NGFW and AWS, ensuring consistent policy enforcement and threat detection across all network environments.
3. Cost savings: OCI offers significant cost savings for FSIs by optimizing resource utilization, helping prevent costly penalties and reputational damage associated with noncompliance, and minimizing the impact of security incidents. By integrating with Palo Alto Networks NGFW and AWS, FSIs can adapt to changing business needs by enhancing resource efficiency and scalability without compromising security or performance.

Zero Trust Frameworks for FSIs

Implementing a zero trust framework is imperative for financial services institutions in this era of heightened cybersecurity threats. Implementing such a standard of network security protects critical assets, customer data, and more. NETSCOUT's OCI offers important tools and capabilities that help strengthen zero trust initiatives, providing comprehensive network visibility, multidimensional threat detection, dynamic access control, and compliance monitoring specifically tailored to the needs of the financial services industry. The seamless integration with Palo Alto Networks NGFW and AWS extends NETSCOUT's value proposition by ensuring consistent threat detection and policy enforcement across all network environments. This enhances cost-effectiveness, operational efficiency, and security resilience for FSIs.

Learn more about strengthening zero trust frameworks in financial services.