Union Bank chooses Varonis for security

Union Bank UK PLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Union Bank of Nigeria PLC, needed better visibility into the different types of sensitive data its employees were storing and accessing across its file systems.

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Regulatory requirements necessitated that the bank’s IT department regularly audit and report on who was accessing sensitive data, when and where, but they had no way of doing so efficiently. Also, with malware and ransomware on the rise, the bank needed a solution that could quickly alert the IT staff to unusual file access behaviour such as rapid encryption of files stored on its servers.

The search led Union Bank’s IT team to Varonis Systems, Inc. and its DatAdvantage and DatAlert solutions. Varonis (NASDAQ:VRNS) is a leading provider of software solutions that protect data from insider threats and cyberattacks. Union Bank’s IT team is now alerted in real-time to any breach of its file systems, and they’re able to put control over file access in the hands of data owners eliminating much of the burden previously placed on their team. They are also able to run fast reports that help them keep an eye on these access privileges and ensure that no one is getting access to data that they do not need.

Visibility Crucial to Improving Security, Ensuring Compliance

Varonis DatAdvantage makes it easy to see from a single interface who can and who does what in the bank’s Windows, Exchange, and Active Directory environments by tracking and monitoring file activity. Union Bank can intelligently identify and govern who owns and can access which data, can report on activity and alert on unusual activity through DatAlert, which uses user behaviour analytics to spot insider threats like abusive administrators, ransomware, compromised accounts, and rogue employees. Keeping files secure when employees decide to leave the company was another important capability identified by Union Bank. Varonis allows the bank to monitor and baseline employees' access profiles and detect if any files had been copied or moved leading up to their departure.

According to David Pennant, IT Manager at Union Bank, “Varonis DatAdvantage takes away the guesswork and allows us to easily set up rules and get reports on changes to files and folders. If we have an auditor come in, we don’t need to worry because we know that with Varonis, any question the auditor might have can be answered.”

Pennant concluded, “Before Varonis we had no real view of what was happening on the file servers or changes happening on a day-to-day basis. We can’t afford to spend a large amount of time sifting through logs – we need to stay focused on day-to-day tasks and therefore needed a more efficient approach. It was obvious straight away that Varonis could give us the automated, efficient approach we were looking for. Thanks to Varonis, IT now has better insight into the bank’s data, and that of course reduces security risk, which is something which you can’t always put a price on.”

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