Bank Mutual

Success Story

Bank Mutual complies with regulatory and audit requirements with assistance from Novell Audit, while protecting employee identities and customer information

Overview

Bank Mutual is one of Wisconsin's largest federally-chartered savings banks, with more than 70 locations and $3.1 billion in assets. The bank offers a full range of savings, investment, checking, and lending services for more than 120,000 households and businesses.

Challenge

Today's banks are held to stringent IT auditing standards. In the past, tracking network usage at a high level was acceptable, but recent federal mandates require precise system event logging. Security breaches are often highly publicized and can jeopardize the reputation of any financial institution.

To meet internal development and network policies, Bank Mutual searched for logging and auditing software that would enhance its internal security efforts. Its previous utility helped with logging, but lacked the capability for managing granular detail. The bank also needed a system that could report on activity occurring across multiple platforms.

Novell solution

"Novell Audit had all the features we required. The beauty of Novell is that it offers a homogenous solution for our heterogeneous environment. We can manage all of our current networked environments, as well as future initiatives."

Frank Green
Vice President, Network Administration
Bank Mutual

Bank Mutual selected Novell Audit, a key component of the Novell Security and Identity solution. The bank worked with Bedrock Managed Services and Consulting, a Novell Platinum Partner, and after sufficient preparation, installed Novell Audit into production in a matter of hours.

"Novell Audit had all the features we required," said Frank Green, vice president of Network Administration at Bank Mutual. "The beauty of Novell is that it offers a homogenous solution for our heterogeneous environment. We can manage all of our current networked environments, as well as future initiatives."

Novell Audit generates records of events that occur across the bank's network and can store them in a central logfile or database. The combination of digitally encrypted signatures on events, as well as event chaining, creates a log that is indisputable in a court of law.

"As banks are held more accountable, we have to be able to prove that our logs are intact, otherwise all our records are suspect," said Green. "We must have verification ability in our databases or we would be vulnerable in a lawsuit."

Novell Identity Manager automatically synchronizes changes to identity information across multiple platforms. This synchronization simplifies identity management across a heterogeneous environment and maintains up-to-date user information. Integrating the Critical Value Reset (CVR) functionality of Novell Audit in an identity management solution ensures that sensitive user identity changes are not only reset to their original state, but also are not replicated to other network operating systems.

"Protecting our information assets is critical," said Green. "Our executive team pays a lot of attention to security. We can't even think about someone hacking into our systems – that would just kill a bank. With Novell Audit, we can monitor our environment at a granular level."

Novell Audit monitors employee usage and also helps to protect employees from unauthorized use of their digital identities. Customers benefit from a more secure system, gaining greater confidence that the bank is protecting their private information.

"Protecting our member's interests is our number one concern – we couldn't do that and satisfy federal regulations without Novell," said Green. "Novell Audit knows what is important on our network and discards the chaff. We have confidence that we have all the right tools to safeguard security and know that we will receive immediate notification if specific violations occur."

The real-time monitoring and notification services of Novell Audit can alert the bank's IT staff to directory, server and file level security breaches. The bank can generate reports to help measure compliance and provide executive management with an overview of the effectiveness of company policies, without overwhelming them with technical detail.

"Generally, I find Novell to be two years ahead of the rest of the pack," said Jamie Price, senior network architect, Bedrock Managed Services and Consulting. "Novell has great foresight, particularly in the identity management arena, and works with partners and customers to develop products that are essential to survive in today's business environment."

Results

With Novell Audit, Bank Mutual has a robust auditing solution efficiently tracking network events and assisting in safeguarding corporate information. Novell Audit improves the bank's efforts to protect the digital identities of its employees and the private information of its customers, while also helping to comply with federal and auditing requirements.

"Banks not keeping up with technology simply won't survive," said Green. "To grow in this business and to service your customers well, you need to be on top of the technology game and have a solid security infrastructure. You must be in control of your network. Novell Audit is a critical component in giving us that control."