Defense-in-Depth Cybersecurity Architecture

On-Premises Financial Services Data Center

A comprehensive multi-layered security framework designed to protect critical financial infrastructure through strategic placement of enterprise-grade security controls at every tier of the technology stack.

Perimeter Security

The first line of defense protecting internet-facing services and DMZ boundaries from external threats.

Next-Generation Firewall

Palo Alto NGFW, Fortinet FortiGate, Cisco Firepower provide deep packet inspection and threat prevention at the internet edge.

Web Application Firewall

F5 BIG-IP ASM and Imperva WAF protect web applications from OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities and zero-day attacks.

DDoS Protection

Arbor Networks and Radware DefensePro continuously mitigate volumetric and application-layer DDoS attacks.

VPN Gateway & IPS

Cisco AnyConnect and Palo Alto GlobalProtect enable secure remote access while Snort and Suricata inspect traffic for intrusion attempts.

Network Security

Enforcing zero-trust principles through strategic segmentation between DMZ, application, database, and management zones.

Cisco ASA and Juniper SRX segment internal network zones, enforcing strict access policies between sensitive systems.

Cisco ISE and Aruba ClearPass authenticate and authorize devices before granting network access, ensuring only compliant endpoints connect.

VMware NSX and Illumio create granular security policies at the workload level, preventing lateral movement across the environment.

Darktrace and Vectra AI leverage machine learning to detect anomalous east-west traffic patterns indicative of internal threats.

Key Objective: Prevent lateral movement, enforce zero-trust networking, isolate sensitive financial systems, and detect internal threat activity through continuous monitoring.

Endpoint Protection

Critical System Safeguards

Deployed across application servers, database servers, administrator workstations, and jump hosts to provide comprehensive endpoint visibility and control.

Anti-Malware & EDR

Symantec, Trend Micro, CrowdStrike Falcon, and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint detect ransomware and advanced persistent threats through behavioral analysis.

Host Intrusion Prevention

McAfee HIPS and OSSEC monitor system calls and file integrity to prevent unauthorized execution and detect compromise indicators.

Patch Management

Microsoft SCCM and Tanium automate vulnerability remediation, reducing exposure windows for known exploits.

Active Protection: Runtime malware detection, continuous behavioral monitoring, and rapid endpoint isolation during incident response to contain threats before they spread.

Application Security

Securing the software development lifecycle and runtime application environments against code-level vulnerabilities and API exploitation.

Pre-Deployment

SAST: Checkmarx and Veracode scan source code in CI/CD pipelines to identify vulnerabilities before deployment.

Runtime Protection

RASP: Imperva and Contrast Security embed security directly into applications to prevent injection and logic attacks during execution.

Dynamic Testing

DAST: Burp Suite Enterprise and OWASP ZAP test running applications to discover runtime security flaws and misconfigurations.

API Security

Salt Security and Noname Security provide continuous API traffic inspection and threat detection for partner integrations.

Risk Mitigation: Prevents injection attacks, secures APIs used by external partners, and significantly reduces application-layer vulnerabilities through comprehensive testing and runtime protection.

Information Security

Data Protection at Rest and in Transit

Comprehensive controls deployed across databases, file systems, and backup repositories to safeguard financial and personal information.

  • Thales CipherTrust and Vormetric provide encryption and centralized key management
  • IBM Guardium and Imperva DAM monitor all database activity for suspicious access patterns
  • Symantec DLP and Forcepoint DLP detect and prevent unauthorized data exfiltration
  • Protegrity and Informatica tokenize and mask sensitive data elements

Identity and Access Management

Centralized authentication infrastructure controlling access to applications, databases, and privileged systems through the principle of least privilege.

Directory Services

Microsoft Active Directory provides centralized user authentication and authorization across the enterprise environment.

Multi-Factor Authentication

Duo Security and Okta MFA enforce additional verification layers beyond passwords for all user and administrator access.

Privileged Access Management

CyberArk and BeyondTrust secure, monitor, and record all privileged sessions to critical systems and databases.

Identity Governance

SailPoint and Saviynt automate identity lifecycle management, access certification, and policy enforcement.

Access Time Controls

Authentication and authorization occur at every access attempt with continuous privileged session monitoring throughout runtime.

Risk Reduction

Prevents credential misuse, secures privileged access to crown-jewel systems, and enforces least-privilege access policies.

Monitoring, Logging and SIEM

Centralized security operations providing organization-wide visibility, correlation, and automated response capabilities.

SIEM Platform

Splunk Enterprise Security and IBM QRadar aggregate and correlate security events from all infrastructure layers in real-time.

Log Management

Elastic Stack (ELK) and Graylog centralize log collection, normalization, and long-term retention for compliance and forensics.

Security Orchestration

Palo Alto Cortex XSOAR and Splunk SOAR automate incident response workflows for faster containment and recovery.

User Behavior Analytics

Exabeam and Securonix apply machine learning to detect anomalous user and entity behavior indicative of insider threats or compromised accounts.

Operational Excellence: Early detection of attacks, centralized security visibility across all layers, and significantly faster incident containment through automated response playbooks.

B2B Integration Security

Securing External Partner Connectivity

Specialized controls deployed at B2B integration gateways in the DMZ to protect stock exchange and settlement connectivity points.

API Gateway

Apigee and Kong manage authentication, rate limiting, and API security policies for partner integrations.

Secure Messaging

IBM MQ with TLS ensures encrypted, authenticated message exchange between trading partners.

Certificate Management

Venafi automates the lifecycle management of digital certificates used for partner authentication.

Secure File Transfer

IBM Sterling and OpenSSH SFTP provide encrypted file exchange with audit trails for compliance.

Active Protection: Partner authentication at access time, message validation and encryption during runtime, and continuous transaction monitoring to detect fraud attempts.

Critical Asset Security

Maximum protection for crown-jewel systems including core trading platforms, settlement systems, and cryptographic key stores.

File Integrity Monitoring

Tripwire and OSSEC continuously verify the integrity of critical system files and configurations, alerting on any unauthorized modifications to trading platforms.

Secrets Management

HashiCorp Vault and CyberArk Conjur securely store, rotate, and audit access to API keys, database credentials, and application secrets.

Hardware Security Modules

Thales nShield HSMs provide FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certified protection for cryptographic keys used in financial transaction signing and encryption operations.

Application Whitelisting

Microsoft AppLocker enforces explicit allow-lists on critical systems, preventing execution of any unauthorized code or scripts.

Runtime Verification

Continuous integrity checks ensure system configurations remain in known-good states.

Runtime Verification

Continuous integrity checks ensure system configurations remain in known-good states.

Runtime Verification

Continuous integrity checks ensure system configurations remain in known-good states.