Lloyds TSB has outsourced Internet intruder detection management to Unisys after failing to implement an inhouse solution capable of effectively securing the bank from Web attacks.
The two-year contract is valued at £1.6 million and will be delivered from the Unisys Security Command Centre (SCC) in Amsterdam, Netherlands, supported by the SCC at the vendor's headquarters in Blue Bell, PA, US. The solution will rely on software from ISS RealSecure, Lloyds TSB's chosen software supplier.
Bob Spencer, head of group IT security and risk at Lloyds TSB says the bank tried to implement IDS in-house and found that it was unable to assign the resources required to effectively manage and monitor the system.
"There are a number of economies of scale that Unisys offers," he says. "Including hiring and training skilled personnel, keeping up to date about new vulnerabilities, new hacker tools, new security products and new software releases."
Unisys also has a much broader view of the Internet and can learn from other customers, he says.
"As our customers want to transact 24 hours a day, we need to protect ourselves from any attack that may lead to our services being unavailable. By securing and monitoring our systems, Unisys also prevents other losses such as financial, reputation and allows our customers to feel safe and secure when transacting with Lloyds TSB," adds Spencer.
The Lloyds TSB solution is based on Unisys Zero-Gap Security Planning, which includes strategic consulting, architecture and planning, design, implementation and management services for business continuity, infrastructure, identity, collaboration and privacy.