Heritage Bank Improves DDoS Protection and Ensures Secure Remote Application Access with F5

Business Challenges

Security

Heritage Bank wanted to keep abreast of changes within the cybersecurity threat landscape, and was particularly wary of DDoS attacks. The bank must comply with strict security regulations, so monitoring of the ever-changing threat landscape is crucial. To achieve this, the bank was looking for a service that would provide peace of mind for both the bank and its customers.

Limited access

Heritage Bank’s previous remote access solution limited staff flexibility and productivity by allowing staff access only to a remote desktop that was missing key applications. In upgrading their application access, Heritage Bank was searching for high performance and ease of access to improve staff productivity and employee satisfaction.

Multiple vendors

Before implementing F5 solutions, Heritage Bank had multiple vendors servicing its network architecture, making it difficult to manage and slowing down the deployment process. This meant staff needed to be trained by multiple vendors, so mitigating security threats and fixing network architecture failures was a slow process.

Solution

Heritage Bank replaced its multi-vendor solution with a suite of F5 products that can be easily stacked and scaled to meet its shifting needs.  With F5, the bank can implement additional features and functionality, as well as stack extra products on top without complex integration processes.

The solution F5 designed for Heritage Bank meets its regulatory guidelines, providing confidence in the bank’s network infrastructure security. The solution includes F5’s cloud-based Silverline DDoS Protection; BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM), which offers full proxy functionality; BIG-IP Application Security Manager (ASM), a web application firewall (WAF) that includes signature-based protection; and BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM), an access management solution.

BIG-IP APM enabled Heritage Bank to increase its suite of products, offering SSL VPN functionality via F5 Access, formerly known as F5 Edge Client, and moving its legacy remote access solution onto the BIG-IP system itself. “There has been good feedback from staff members who are utilising the solution that it is far superior than the previous solution, so we are migrating everyone that could possibly use it to F5 Access,” said Lachlan Peters, Team Leader of Security Engineering, Heritage Bank.

Instead of seeking a new vendor for its WAF solution, Heritage Bank chose BIG-IP ASM because it worked seamlessly with its existing BIG-IP LTM deployment.

In addition, after discovering a DNS solution was required for an ‘always on’ approach, Heritage Bank chose F5’s load balancing solution. Because BIG-IP DNS monitors the state of its Internet and mobile banking solutions across data centres, the company now has an ‘always on’ network.

Benefits

In response to the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, Heritage Bank now has 24/7 DDoS protection, thanks to F5. Deploying the remote access management solutions has also allowed staff to securely work off-site at any time, increasing flexible working options. Heritage Bank’s new ‘one vendor’ approach has further improved security while simplifying network management.

24/7 DDoS protection

Silverline DDoS Protection is managed by experts from F5’s Security Operations Centre (SOC) locations, providing Heritage Bank with 24/7 support. For the peace of mind of both customers and staff, Heritage Bank has to be on the forefront of security at all times. By deploying Silverline DDoS Protection, Heritage Bank can detect, identify, and mitigate large-scale threats in real time.

“Due to the ease of deployment we were able to implement F5’s security solution very quickly, and the Silverline staff were very knowledgeable and easy to deal with. The support that’s offered in the event of a security threat is second to none. The staff at F5 are very knowledgeable and willing to go the extra mile which gives us peace of mind knowing we have 24/7 support,” said Peters.

Improves staff access

Heritage Bank’s previous remote access solution was limiting staff on the road. Moving to BIG-IP APM gave them secure and fast access to Heritage Bank’s network applications, and improved the speed of app deployment. Finally, it has enabled employees to stay secure while working remotely.

‘One vendor’ solution

Heritage Bank chose F5’s solutions for their ability to provide visibility across the entire network for total system management in one place. Since the F5 products are deployed using the same management solution, it is now a lot easier for an internal team to manage the infrastructure.

The F5 solution also has the ability to scale rapidly. This provides peace of mind for Heritage Bank when investing in F5 products as they can grow naturally alongside the bank to meet its shifting needs. Heritage Bank has plans to move into the cloud in the near future, and with F5’s on-premises and cloud-based solutions. When it does shift its workloads into the cloud, it will be straightforward to migrate its existing security capabilities to private or public cloud environments as well.