JSC Ukreximbank is one of the three largest Ukrainian banks and the largest in the country’s network of correspondent banks. The bank was founded in 1992 and has been providing financial services in the Ukrainian market for over 25 years. The National Bank of Ukraine classifies JSC Ukreximbank as a systemically important bank. The country (represented by the Cabinet of Ministers) owns the entire block of shares, which means that the bank is 100 percent state-owned.

As of January 1, 2019, the bank’s structure consists of the main bank in Kiev, 22 branches and 39 offices throughout the country. The bank also has two foreign representative offices—in London and New York. JSC Ukreximbank actively cooperates with major foreign commercial banks and international financial organizations, including the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, and the International Finance Corporation.

Any large bank is a multi-location structure. The same is true for its IT infrastructure, which makes it impossible to simultaneously unify/update all the equipment and software used for its work. As a result, the process of protecting information becomes more complicated, as IT professionals have to deal with outdated operating systems and equipment that are more vulnerable to attacks by cybercriminals or simply not supported by newer versions of software packages. Therefore, universal solutions with the possibility of centralized control are of particular importance for an effective IT security system.

Confidentiality, integrity and accessibility of information, and compliance with the requirements of various regulators are also extremely important for the banking sector. Without complying with the first set of parameters, the bank risks losing customers and suffering huge losses due to fines, reputational risks, and direct theft of funds from accounts, while without meeting the requirements, it simply cannot provide certain services to its customers, for example, issuing payment cards or making international transfers. Naturally, addressing all these challenges requires efficient and modern cybersecurity tools from reputable manufacturers.

"Trend Micro solutions meet all modern requirements for the bank’s IT security system. The company is the world leader in the area-specific software production, and we are fully satisfied with its quality, as well as with the operational efficiency and level of technical support."

JSC Ukreximbank

After looking at the solutions of various vendors, JSC Ukreximbank eventually chose Trend Micro and has been using some of the company’s solutions for over ten years, while remaining completely satisfied with their quality. In addition, JSC Ukreximbank was looking for solutions that could be easily integrated into existing software, that could support outdated operating systems and various hardware configurations, as well as provide high-quality technical support.

Deep Security and Deep Discovery Analyzer are used by the bank’s IT specialists for protection against traditional and targeted attacks, detection of threats in the network traffic, and identification of malware in files with which the bank’s employees are continuously working on. At the same time, Deep Discovery Analyzer makes it possible to use an isolated environment for a more in-depth analysis of threats in the sandbox.

Deep Security solutions are used for protection against malware, assessment of websites reputation, integrity monitoring, detection and prevention of intrusions, as a firewall, and for checking computer logs to help identify suspicious events.

Due to constant software updates and centralized threat analysis, Trend Micro solutions can automatically adapt to changing environments and respond to new and unknown threats in a timely manner.

"We would particularly like to emphasize the stability of Trend Micro software systems, even at times of peak loads on the system, and their capability to withstand all current types of cyberattacks."

JSC Ukreximbank

By implementing Deep Security and Deep Discovery Analyzer, JSC Ukreximbank has managed to improve the security of its data and ensure timely detection and effective protection from the latest cyberattacks—which is especially important given their use of outdated operating systems and far reach of the bank’s IT infrastructure. The detection of malicious emails and websites—among the most popular types of attacks— are reported back several times a week to the bank’s IT specialists by the Trend Micro solutions team.

The use of Trend Micro solutions also helps the bank meet the constantly-tightening regulations at the local and international level, including the PCI DSS security requirements for storing user data. The bank is also able to scale up its IT infrastructure without endangering information security, as well as optimize its management. Today, the bank uses over 400 Trend Micro solution licenses, with plans to gradually increase this number.

In the near future JSC Ukreximbank plans to continue its partnership with Trend Micro to upgrade the bank’s software and better protect its infrastructure from previously unknown threats and zero-day attacks. JSC Ukreximbank also plans to integrate solutions with the bank’s software from other manufacturers or gradually replace it with Trend Micro solutions.