How AWS Can Overcome Security and Compliance Challenges

Developing any kind of application, regardless of the industry in which it will be used, can be difficult. There’s the target audience and existing competition to consider, the platform to be used, the UX/UI design, the features to be included, the architecture and technologies to be used, and more.

Incorporating elements to keep the app and any data it processes secure is a must. And it’s often a challenge given the ever-expanding cyber threat landscape. It can be even more complex in industries such as financial services, particularly in terms of app security and compliance.

The Gap Between Security and Compliance

The financial services industry is a common target for cyber thieves. It’s also among the most heavily regulated industries. However, it’s not enough for app developers to incorporate security and data privacy into an app’s architecture or the underlying infrastructure.

They must also implement controls that can help financial services organizations meet the variety of unique security, regulatory, and compliance obligations they face on a global scale. Among them: PCI-DSS, SOC2, EU Data Protection Directive, FedRAMP, GDPR, FIPS 140-2, and NIST 800-171.

While typical app security methods may overlap with compliance requirements, that’s not always the case. As such, app developers must ensure any gaps between the two are filled. They can’t assume meeting specific regulatory compliance requirements will ensure an app is secure. That’s particularly true since compliance standards are usually considered minimum requirements.

Nor can they feel confident that incorporating strong security mechanisms in an application will meet specific regulatory requirements. Failing to address both security essentials and compliance requirements can result in data breaches, costly fines, downtime, and other damaging effects.

AWS Support for Security and Compliance

One thing that can help developers working in the financial services industry is to use AWS services. The data centers and networks that power AWS are designed to protect customers’ information, identities, apps, and devices.

In addition, AWS supports more security standards and compliance certifications than any other cloud provider. That includes PCI-DSS, HIPAA/HITECH, FedRAMP, GDPR, FIPS 140-2, and NIST 800-171. Customers can leverage AWS’ security standards and compliance certifications to help lessen their operational burden to meet security and compliance requirements.

They also can use any number of AWS’ wide range of services and resources, including those listed on the AWS website. Of course, AWS also has plenty of experience in working with financial services organizations, including banks, capital markets, FinTech startups, insurance companies, and payments.

The ClearScale Side of the Equation

AWS has an abundance of resources to meet both the security and compliance requirements of the financial services industry. The problem is that not all app developers are well-versed in identifying and using them. Nor do they all have expertise in app security or knowledge of industry-specific compliance requirements. This is where ClearScale can make a difference.

As an AWS Premier Tier Services Partner with 12 AWS Competencies, our experience in working with AWS has been thoroughly vetted. We also continue to stay on top of the latest AWS services, including cloud security.

To meet security and compliance requirements, we address key issues such as infrastructure security, application security, web-server security, API security, authentication systems, data encryption, and testing.

DevSecOps, an approach that integrates security as a shared responsibility among all project teams throughout the app development lifecycle, is business as usual at ClearScale.

ClearScale Case Studies Tell the Story

A perusal of ClearScale’s case studies attests to the depth and breadth of our app development experience. That includes work in highly regulated industries, such as financial services, healthcare, retail, and utilities, where compliance requirements are critical considerations in any app development project. And if it’s security expertise you’re looking for, you’ll find real-world examples here.

One, in particular, is our work for a company that needed separate architecture designs for a SaaS offering to meet the requirements of two compliance groups: PCI DSS/HIPAA and GDPR/Cyber Essentials.

The ClearScale solution included the use of Kubernetes, an open-source system that automates the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. The Rancher management tool was used to deliver Kubernetes-as-a-Service. With Kubernetes and Rancher, the customer gained the ability to run multiple services and tenants on the same machine.

All hosts, pods, and connectivity within the Kubernetes cluster are managed with the Rancher orchestration tool, which also connects the Windows and Linux hosts on Amazon Virtual Machines. All Kubernetes images are managed by using HELM charts. These collections of files describe a related set of Kubernetes resources, enabling ClearScale to dynamically configure each pod.

Throughout the designing and building of this system, ClearScale gave security top priority. All connections are made over TLS/SSL authentication and data encryption protocols configured on all individual services. Access is controlled and restricted using Kubernetes namespaces plus Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), providing separation between tenants. Additional security is achieved through a host-based intrusion detection OSSEC, with agents installed on all individual Docker images.

Next Steps

That’s just one of the many examples of how ClearScale leverages a variety of tools and technologies, including those from AWS, to meet its customers’ security and compliance requirements, as well as their business requirements. You can also explore the ClearScale MSP service to learn about our 24/7 security offerings.

Get in touch today to speak with a cloud expert and discuss how we can help:

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