The prize was announced during CIAB 2004 and is directed to outstanding players in the financial sector
Modulo Security, leading information security company in Latin America, established a partnership with Nossa Caixa bank to implement the solution that won the E-Finance Award 2004. Mdulo was running in the Best Security Solution category, and won the prize awarded to the best security solutions for financial institutions. The E-Finance Award is directed to companies that stand out with the best technological solutions and applications developed for the financial market. It is promoted by Executivos Financeiros magazine and is now in its third edition.
Mdulo was one of the five finalist companies in the Microsoft Partner Program Awards, and won the Security Partner of the Year in Latin America award. The ceremony took place on July 12 at the Metro Toronto Convention Center, in Canada, during the Worldwide Partner Conference, an annual worldwide event organized by Microsoft for its partners. Executives and professionals from Brazilian companies were present, as well as Microsoft partners from all over the world.
Modulo presented the case conducted with Nossa Caixa bank in 2003. Using its new tool for IT risk assessment and management application, Risk Manager™, Modulo and the bank's team together analyzed the institution's critical assets and examined client needs, including those required for compliance with the Brazilian Central Bank's and Basel Accord publications.
The Case
According to the initial project, the client's needs included: monitoring the effects of security resource implementations using a methodology compliant with the ISO/IEC/NBR 17799 standard; consolidation of the security strategies adopted by the bank in the last four years; structuring of the security actions focused on the growth of the organization, driven by the challenges of going public, and maintenance of the good security level and image of a traditional, one century-old institution.
"Information security is a key factor for any company's business, specially for financial institutions, who, besides guaranteeing security, must meet requirements by the Central Bank and Basil Accord. We used Risk Manager™ at Nossa Caixa bank in order to ensure maximum security for the bank's transactions, especially those carried out online, where security depends mainly on the weakest link in the process: the account holder", states Fernando Nery, founding partner of Modulo.
From this project scope, Modulo, together with the Nossa Caixa team, implemented the tool and developed actions that resulted in consistent security management within the Internet scenario. The use of Risk Manager™ allows constant monitoring of implementations, making it easier to act and direct the team towards security actions that really make a difference. Another benefit was the increased team motivation, since they could actually see the work performed and the possibility to expand the project by structuring activities, to generate more assignments for the business areas, and to mitigate risks in view of the large volume of vulnerabilities in the Internet universe.
Risk Manager™ generates a security process within the institution, causing the IT, the business and the audit areas to work together to yield integrated and effective results. The benefits to users and clients come with the solution, since it is the obligation of every institution, mainly the financial ones, to care for the security of all their data and transactions. We may also state that this type of solution leads to paradigm changes - "reliability and credibility on the part of whoever uses electronic transactions", said Jose Waldir Pacheco de Carvalho, IT Security Manager at Nossa Caixa bank.