Banking
Security first in financial processes
Cybersecurity
Research report
Between October 2021 and November 2021, 144 Belgian and Dutch companies took part in our cybersecurity survey. Proximus and its affiliates were therefore able to study the impact of cybersecurity on companies with fewer than 10 and up to more than 2,000 employees.
BANK DEGROOF PETERCAM
The banking environment is in permanent evolution and must constantly adapt to new regulations. Above all, the desire to live up to its clients’ expectations has motivated Degroof Petercam to invest in a transition that goes beyond simple digitization. The aim has been both to rationalize and centralize IT activities and to outsource part of its operations in order to refocus on the needs of its customers.
Tim Van Der Wee, Chief Information & Technology Officer at Isabel Group
“Technologies such as AI and ML offer new opportunities to make digital payment transactions more secure.”
Febelfin
Febelfin on security in financial sector
Cybercriminals take advantage of the recipient’s goodwill or sense of duty, with fake e-mails, text messages and social media messages. These are frequently very professionally crafted and, for the unsuspecting consumer, hard to distinguish from the real thing.
Fien Vanbiervliet
XSU Care Lead Belgium
“We’re boosting employee accessibility and productivity without having to saddle our in-house ICT Department with smartphone management.”
Our cybersecurity solutions
“On the whole, systems in financial institutions are really secure”, said Patrick Wynant, Senior Counsel Cybersecurity & Banking Operations at Febelfin, “but cybercriminals don’t target systems, they target people. Which is why we are focusing on raising awareness.” Behind the scenes, Febelfin’s members exchange information about the evolving risks and fraud techniques, among other things.
Alongside the need for security, data protection is also part of the DNA of the financial sector. “There were guidelines long before the GDPR”, it is said. The GDPR did however help raise awareness among consumers and businesses about the importance of privacy. “Security and privacy are also extremely important topics in anything to do with the cloud”, said Patrick Wynant. Cloud providers have to offer the same level of protection required by the financial institutions’ watchdog. Patrick Wynant: “The cloud is no longer taboo. And even though Febelfin offers no advice on using the cloud, we do discuss it at length with the supervising entity.”
TriFinance provides operational support and advice in the fields of finance, IT and human resources. A Dutch family business with operations in four countries, they have eight hundred employees on their payroll, five hundred of whom are in Belgium. “Our consultants usually work on site, at the customer's offices,” says Fien Vanbiervliet, XSU Care Lead Belgium. “They use the customer’s laptop to get that done.” Looking to strengthen the bond with its personnel, TriFinance decided to provide them all with smartphones.
MOBITEL
is an official Proximus Telecom expert. The Mortsel-based company belongs to the select group of specialists in the field of mobile devices and mobile Internet. The company has specific experience in the migration of large groups of telecom users to Proximus solutions.
Trifinance
TriFinance smartphones,
watertight security
Who chooses the smartphones? How is confidential customer data security maintained, and who repairs buggy devices? Proximus Mobile Managed Services provide TriFinance with a solution to all of the above – and more.
DAVINSI LABS
helps companies achieve Digital Service Excellence by providing specialized Security Intelligence and Service Intelligence solutions. In today's digital world, customers expect their data to be managed with the utmost security and want a fast, flawless customer experience.
ISABEL GROUP
builds bridges between all the players in an organization's financial value chain. They streamline financial administration and improve business processes.
The designated solutions underscore the added value that Proximus and its partners contribute. “The first thing we did was to identify and map TriFinance’s needs,” said Jurgen De Klerck, Proximus Solution Sales Consultant. “From there, we helped TriFinance choose the best solution for them, with Mobitel as a partner. Ultimately, it's this triangular relationship that delivers on the outcome TriFinance envisioned.”
Specifically, TriFinance elected to go with Proximus Mobile Managed Services (MMS). TriFinance selected the devices and drew up the device policy, but they're outsourcing the actual implementation. Proximus partner Mobitel handles the delivery logistics through its e-desk. “Employees get to decide where and when Mobitel delivers their device,” said Braspennincx, XSU Leader Systems at TriFinance. “Mobitel's e-desk is also available for troubleshooting defective devices and answering subscription-related questions.”
Right from the get-go, TriFinance aimed to assign mobile fleet device management the attention it deserved. And IT security is a major part of that. “Our consultants handle confidential customer data,” says Alexander Declerck, XSU Leader of Business Development at TriFinance. “There’s no question that we have to deal with it professionally, among other things, through GDPR compliance.”
all powerful instruments
The emergence of big data and new technologies – such as AI, machine learning and blockchain – provide powerful tools for the automation and streamlining of financial processes. Thanks to machine learning, for example, it is possible to detect how a correct accounting proposal can be made to customers based on past accounting transactions. This saves time and improves efficiency. In the field of e-invoicing, machine learning can also help with self-learning algorithms to finally eliminate unstructured invoices that are drawn up in Word or as a PDF.
For Isabel Group, safety is essential, as is the availability of the services. The proactive testing by ethical hackers of the infrastructure, applications, as well as the vulnerabilities of end users is important in order to stay just one step ahead of the opponent. Unfortunately, one test does not provide a conclusive guarantee that the security policy is watertight. Every day, hackers invent new tools and techniques. What is safe today may display a critical vulnerability tomorrow. A penetration test should therefore be carried out on a regular basis.
Isabel Group is also increasingly focusing on awareness-raising campaigns about human behavior in administrative and financial processes – because behavior is often the weakest link in the security chain of digital transactions. Hackers are increasingly focusing on deceiving people, because this offers them the greatest chance of breaking into a system.
The collaboration with Davinsi Labs includes the implementation and operational follow-up of a security information and event management system (SIEM), based on the Splunk big data analytics platform. This system focuses not on the client but on providing (more) insight into infrastructure problems for internal employees. The set-up of the platform was created and optimized on the basis of the business requirements and the specific use cases of Isabel Group.
On an average day, Isabel Group uses its Isabel 6 platform to process between six and seven billion euros in payments. Security is therefore an absolute priority. To keep pace with the rapid evolution in the sector, Isabel Group relies on the external expertise of Davinsi Labs, which over the years has grown into a permanent partner of Isabel Group in security monitoring and pentesting.
Today, entrepreneurs or financial market players are facing profound changes. The COVID crisis has really accelerated the development and implementation of digitalization and automation. But this rapid evolution has also increased the likelihood of data breaches, cyber attacks and other digital threats. Not to mention the challenging competitive landscape and the complex regulations – both national and European – that can give large and small entrepreneurs sleepless nights.
Tim Van Der Wee
is Chief Information & Technology Officer at Isabel Group. As CIO, he is responsible for the IT support of the digital workplace and the operational management of software applications. As a CTO, he is in charge of the R&D processes – including innovation – of solutions.
Secure administrative and financial processes are under pressure. Tim Van Der Wee of Isabel Group explains how, in partnership with Davinsi Labs, the company secures communication between tax and accountancy bureaus, software partners and banks.
Security first in financial processes
Banking
Research report
Cybersecurity
Our cybersecurity solutions
“On the whole, systems in financial institutions are really secure”, said Patrick Wynant, Senior Counsel Cybersecurity & Banking Operations at Febelfin, “but cybercriminals don’t target systems, they target people. Which is why we are focusing on raising awareness.” Behind the scenes, Febelfin’s members exchange information about the evolving risks and fraud techniques, among other things.
Alongside the need for security, data protection is also part of the DNA of the financial sector. “There were guidelines long before the GDPR”, it is said. The GDPR did however help raise awareness among consumers and businesses about the importance of privacy. “Security and privacy are also extremely important topics in anything to do with the cloud”, said Patrick Wynant. Cloud providers have to offer the same level of protection required by the financial institutions’ watchdog. Patrick Wynant: “The cloud is no longer taboo. And even though Febelfin offers no advice on using the cloud, we do discuss it at length with the supervising entity.”
Febelfin
Febelfin on security in financial sector
Cybercriminals take advantage of the recipient’s goodwill or sense of duty, with fake e-mails, text messages and social media messages. These are frequently very professionally crafted and, for the unsuspecting consumer, hard to distinguish from the real thing.
The designated solutions underscore the added value that Proximus and its partners contribute. “The first thing we did was to identify and map TriFinance’s needs,” said Jurgen De Klerck, Proximus Solution Sales Consultant. “From there, we helped TriFinance choose the best solution for them, with Mobitel as a partner. Ultimately, it's this triangular relationship that delivers on the outcome TriFinance envisioned.”
MOBITEL
is an official Proximus Telecom expert. The Mortsel-based company belongs to the select group of specialists in the field of mobile devices and mobile Internet. The company has specific experience in the migration of large groups of telecom users to Proximus solutions.
Specifically, TriFinance elected to go with Proximus Mobile Managed Services (MMS). TriFinance selected the devices and drew up the device policy, but they're outsourcing the actual implementation. Proximus partner Mobitel handles the delivery logistics through its e-desk. “Employees get to decide where and when Mobitel delivers their device,” said Braspennincx, XSU Leader Systems at TriFinance. “Mobitel's e-desk is also available for troubleshooting defective devices and answering subscription-related questions.”
Right from the get-go, TriFinance aimed to assign mobile fleet device management the attention it deserved. And IT security is a major part of that. “Our consultants handle confidential customer data,” says Alexander Declerck, XSU Leader of Business Development at TriFinance. “There’s no question that we have to deal with it professionally, among other things, through GDPR compliance.”
TriFinance provides operational support and advice in the fields of finance, IT and human resources. A Dutch family business with operations in four countries, they have eight hundred employees on their payroll, five hundred of whom are in Belgium. “Our consultants usually work on site, at the customer's offices,” says Fien Vanbiervliet, XSU Care Lead Belgium. “They use the customer’s laptop to get that done.” Looking to strengthen the bond with its personnel, TriFinance decided to provide them all with smartphones.
Trifinance
TriFinance smartphones,
watertight security
Who chooses the smartphones? How is confidential customer data security maintained, and who repairs buggy devices? Proximus Mobile Managed Services provide TriFinance with a solution to all of the above – and more.
Between October 2021 and November 2021, 144 Belgian and Dutch companies took part in our cybersecurity survey. Proximus and its affiliates were therefore able to study the impact of cybersecurity on companies with fewer than 10 and up to more than 2,000 employees.
DAVINSI LABS
helps companies achieve Digital Service Excellence by providing specialized Security Intelligence and Service Intelligence solutions. In today's digital world, customers expect their data to be managed with the utmost security and want a fast, flawless customer experience.
ISABEL GROUP
builds bridges between all the players in an organization's financial value chain. They streamline financial administration and improve business processes.
BANK DEGROOF PETERCAM
The banking environment is in permanent evolution and must constantly adapt to new regulations. Above all, the desire to live up to its clients’ expectations has motivated Degroof Petercam to invest in a transition that goes beyond simple digitization. The aim has been both to rationalize and centralize IT activities and to outsource part of its operations in order to refocus on the needs of its customers.
all powerful instruments
The emergence of big data and new technologies – such as AI, machine learning and blockchain – provide powerful tools for the automation and streamlining of financial processes. Thanks to machine learning, for example, it is possible to detect how a correct accounting proposal can be made to customers based on past accounting transactions. This saves time and improves efficiency. In the field of e-invoicing, machine learning can also help with self-learning algorithms to finally eliminate unstructured invoices that are drawn up in Word or as a PDF.
For Isabel Group, safety is essential, as is the availability of the services. The proactive testing by ethical hackers of the infrastructure, applications, as well as the vulnerabilities of end users is important in order to stay just one step ahead of the opponent. Unfortunately, one test does not provide a conclusive guarantee that the security policy is watertight. Every day, hackers invent new tools and techniques. What is safe today may display a critical vulnerability tomorrow. A penetration test should therefore be carried out on a regular basis.
Isabel Group is also increasingly focusing on awareness-raising campaigns about human behavior in administrative and financial processes – because behavior is often the weakest link in the security chain of digital transactions. Hackers are increasingly focusing on deceiving people, because this offers them the greatest chance of breaking into a system.
Tim Van Der Wee, Chief Information & Technology Officer at Isabel Group
“Technologies such as AI and ML offer new opportunities to make digital payment transactions more secure.”
The collaboration with Davinsi Labs includes the implementation and operational follow-up of a security information and event management system (SIEM), based on the Splunk big data analytics platform. This system focuses not on the client but on providing (more) insight into infrastructure problems for internal employees. The set-up of the platform was created and optimized on the basis of the business requirements and the specific use cases of Isabel Group.
On an average day, Isabel Group uses its Isabel 6 platform to process between six and seven billion euros in payments. Security is therefore an absolute priority. To keep pace with the rapid evolution in the sector, Isabel Group relies on the external expertise of Davinsi Labs, which over the years has grown into a permanent partner of Isabel Group in security monitoring and pentesting.
Tim Van Der Wee
is Chief Information & Technology Officer at Isabel Group. As CIO, he is responsible for the IT support of the digital workplace and the operational management of software applications. As a CTO, he is in charge of the R&D processes – including innovation – of solutions.
Today, entrepreneurs or financial market players are facing profound changes. The COVID crisis has really accelerated the development and implementation of digitalization and automation. But this rapid evolution has also increased the likelihood of data breaches, cyber attacks and other digital threats. Not to mention the challenging competitive landscape and the complex regulations – both national and European – that can give large and small entrepreneurs sleepless nights.
Secure administrative and financial processes are under pressure. Tim Van Der Wee of Isabel Group explains how, in partnership with Davinsi Labs, the company secures communication between tax and accountancy bureaus, software partners and banks.