Bandhan Bank Limited, headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal, was incorporated in December 2014 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bandhan Financial Holdings Limited. Bandhan, which started as a microfinance company in 2001, received the “in-principle” approval of the Reserve Bank of India in 2014. The first bank in Eastern India after independence, Bandhan Bank became the eighth largest bank in the country in March 2018.

Bandhan Bank has 4,177 touchpoints across India. This includes 937 bank branches, 2,764 Doorstep Service Centers (DSCs), and 476 ATMs serving more than 13 million customers. Bandhan Bank is driven by a constant mission to deliver superior service. The bank has two divisions—General Banking and Micro Banking—and offers a range of retail financial solutions.

As a major bank with a pan-India presence, Bandhan Bank required a robust security landscape for its endpoints, network, and data center. Its existing security solution was not able to handle the frequent malware attacks targeting the bank’s endpoints, and the bank’s help desk was overburdened with security issues. The bank’s security team also lacked visibility across the organization’s IT assets, so there was no way to determine whether any of its systems were affected or if the bank’s security posture was compromised. Due to an evolving threat landscape and the increased presence of ransomware and zero-day threats, the bank decided to upgrade its existing antivirus solution.

"Bandhan Bank required a robust security solution that will proactively protect against the constant changes in the threat environment. Trend Micro’s solutions fit the bill."

Bandhan Bank Representative

Bandhan Bank chose Trend Micro security solutions by conducting a proof of concept (PoC). The PoC showed that Trend Micro™ OfficeScan™, Trend Micro™ Deep Discovery™ Inspector (DDI), and Trend Micro™ Deep Discovery™ Analyzer would provide the comprehensive security solution the bank needed for its endpoints, networks, and data center. OfficeScan eliminates security gaps across endpoints and user activity by infusing high-fidelity machine learning into a blend of threat protection techniques. Deep Discovery Inspector provides centralized visibility and prevents data breaches by quickly detecting advanced malware, while Deep Discovery Analyzer detects ransomware through custom sandboxing.

Contributing to the choice of Trend Micro as the preferred solution provider was the organization’s position as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms since 2002, and its status as the “most effective recommended breach detection system” for two years running, according to NSS Labs.

"Trend Micro solutions provide the highest level of security for our endpoints, servers, and network without compromising on operational performance."

Bandhan Bank Representative

Trend Micro OfficeScan, Trend Micro Deep Discovery Inspector, and Trend Micro Deep Discovery Analyzer were implemented over three months by their own Professional Service Partners team. They deployed 7,000 OfficeScan units on endpoints and in the bank’s data center. Two Deep Discovery Inspector solutions—DDI 500 and DDI 1000— were integrated with Trend Micro™ Control Manager™, and Deep Discovery Analyzer was implemented to protect file submissions.

OfficeScan, Trend Micro’s lightweight, optimized security solution for endpoints, progressively filters out threats using the most efficient technique for maximum detection without false positives. Across the organization, automatic sharing of threat intelligence across security layers enables protection from emerging threats, and instant sharing of suspicious network activity information prevents subsequent attacks.

Deep Discovery Inspector identifies targeted attacks, advanced threats, and ransomware by monitoring all traffic across physical and virtual network segments, all network ports, and over 100 network protocols. Detection is enhanced through custom sandbox analysis, using virtual images tuned to precisely match the bank’s system configurations, drivers, installed applications, and language versions. The bank gains greater visibility into attacks and greater protection against zero-day and advanced threats, ransomware attacks, malware, document exploits, phishing, bots, Trojans, and more.

Deep Discovery Analyzer extends the value of existing security investments with expanded sandboxing capabilities. If a threat is discovered in the bank’s security landscape, security solutions are automatically updated. Advanced detection methods such as static analysis, heuristic analysis, behavior analysis, web reputation, and file reputation ensure that threats are discovered quickly.

Trend Micro Control Manager provides centralized visibility and investigative capabilities, giving the bank a holistic view of its security posture. Visual timelines allow the bank to monitor patterns of threat activities for all users across all devices.

The robust suite of Trend Micro security solutions helps ensure that Bandhan Bank’s endpoints, network, and data center are always protected against advanced malware and ransomware—and that protection extends to new unknown variants as they emerge. In addition, Bandhan Bank gained a 90 to 95 percent increase in uptime. With minimal process downtime, production continues unobstructed and users are happy with the minimal impact on devices and networks.

Now Bandhan Bank’s IT team has centralized visibility, investigative capabilities, and a holistic view of the endpoints and networks across the organization through Trend Micro Control Manager. Shared threat intelligence and delivery of real-time security updates contributes to rapid detection of and response to threats, ultimately reducing the call volume to the bank’s help desk.

For Bandhan Bank, providing the best possible service to its customers is an ongoing challenge—and keeping its data and systems protected from attacks will continue as the primary focus for its security team. As new cyber threats and attack vectors emerge, Bandhan Bank is well prepared to take steps towards ensuring its environment remains safe from the next generation of exploits.