Metro Bank Enhances Security for Office 365 Apps with Forcepoint CASB

• Cybersecurity & Privacy - Cloud Security

• Finance & Insurance

• Business Operation

• Cybersecurity

• Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

Metro Bank, the UK’s first new High Street bank in over 100 years, wanted to improve employee productivity by enabling off-network access to Office 365 and Yammer. However, they found the move too risky, even with Mobile Device Management (MDM) in place. The bank needed a solution that would enable them to fully leverage their investment in cloud applications without increasing the risk of company data and confidential information falling into the wrong hands. The Infrastructure Delivery Team’s goal was to provide full access to Office 365 for corporate-owned device users—on or off network—and to extend access to Yammer for personal device users as well. As a second phase, specific colleagues were to be given off-site access to the more-sensitive information within Dynamics CRM. Enhancing mobile endpoint management was another key requirement. Metro Bank wanted to limit off-network access to the corporate devices already managed by AirWatch MDM, and there was no straightforward way to enforce this policy with their existing tools.

Metro Bank is the UK’s first new High Street bank in over 100 years. It provides unparalleled levels of service and convenience to its customers. Launched in July 2010, Metro Bank now has 27 stores across London and the South East and has plans to open up to 200 more by 2020. Metro Bank is an innovator with regard to IT, enabling its 1400 colleagues across the UK to communicate and collaborate effectively. Metro Bank puts the latest Microsoft software and services to work, including the complete Office 365 Suite for email, office productivity and business applications, Dynamics CRM and Yammer. Metro Bank manages its 500 corporate Windows and Apple mobile phones using AirWatch Mobile Device Management (MDM).

Metro Bank was introduced to Forcepoint CASB at the Infosecurity Conference in London and immediately saw the potential to resolve their Office 365 access control and security challenges. The team began an ultimately successful proof of concept (POC) and subsequently made the decision to deploy the solution to protect their entire mobile workforce; it was completed within several days. In keeping with their cloud-based approach to IT, Metro Bank deployed Forcepoint CASB as a cloud-based in-line proxy. No on-premise hardware or software was required. First, the team wanted to define a policy for Office 365 to restrict access to only managed corporate laptops and Windows mobile devices. A self-service enrollment was decided upon, enabling users to sign up for remote cloud access the first time they used Office 365. By leveraging AirWatch’s capability to send a certificate to selected devices, Forcepoint CASB was able to automatically determine which users were qualified to enroll for full Office 365 access and which users and devices could only access Yammer. Metro Bank implemented Forcepoint CASB to provide visibility into cloud application usage, including what data has been accessed, when and by whom. They are also using the security and protection features of Forcepoint CASB to detect behavioral anomalies with app usage and to alert or block suspicious events in real-time.

• Metro Bank found an effective solution that was transparent to users yet provided IT with granular visibility into cloud application usage.
• Forcepoint CASB worked seamlessly with Metro Bank’s AirWatch MDM deployment to provide broad access to corporate devices.
• Enabled personal-device users to safely access Yammer and collaborate with colleagues from outside of the office.