Compushare Reports Community Financial Institutions Move to Real-Time Internal Security Monitoring and Multi-Layered Authentication

Community financial institutions still see security as a primary concern, and continue to seek information technology solutions for remediation and documentation

South Coast Metro, Calif., Jan. 25, 2005 – Compushare, provider of information technology, consulting and implementation solutions for community financial institutions, reports a growing trend among its more than 300 community financial institution clients of implementing real-time, internal security monitoring solutions. The firm also reports a move among these institutions toward multi-layered authentication at the device-level and end-user level.

“Financial institutions have always been concerned with security issues, and this remains true today,” said Romir Bosu, president of Compushare. “For both institutions and examiners, this concern is evolving from only performing annual security assessments and toward augmenting assessments with constant, real-time monitoring and remediation of vulnerabilities. We are seeing more and more institutions implementing security and compliance technologies in order to meet both regulator demands and their own bank-specific policies.”

According to Compushare, financial institutions historically conducted annual or biannual security assessments in order to identify and document vulnerabilities and satisfy regulatory reviews. Oftentimes, however, institutions failed to remediate identified vulnerabilities. The firm notes that many times an information security assessment conducted would reveal the same vulnerabilities as the previous assessment, and the institution would simply not have the time or expertise to remediate the problems.

Today, however, Compushare notes a focus from community institutions toward ongoing, constant monitoring of vulnerabilities, and a correspondent remediation of those problems. Furthermore, the firm has seen an increase in community banks selecting to implement multi-layered authentication as an added element of security.

Compushare meets the security needs of community financial institutions through information security assessments; 24x7 remote monitoring and reporting services; business continuity planning and testing; information security awareness training; and Compushare Compliance Manager, a solution designed to keep network servers up-to-date with service packs and patches while providing adequate documentation to fulfill compliance needs.

About Compushare
Compushare is a professional services firm that specializes in providing information technology consulting and solutions to community financial institutions. The firm helps clients plan, implement, execute and support technology and processes to upgrade IT infrastructure, remain compliant with federal and state regulations and automate or outsource IT functions. Headquartered in South Coast Metro, Calif., Compushare has additional offices in Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas and San Francisco. For more information visit www.compushare.com.