Trend Micro: Securing the Financial Services

Nilesh Jain
Country Manager- India and SAARC, Trend Micro India

With the changing technology, issues and challenges are also undergoing a paradigm shift . Just 10 years ago, generic spam was one of the biggest issues for enterprises. This was the time when Trend Micro came out with a required solution to counter generic spam, says Nilesh Jain, Country Manager- India and SAARC, Trend Micro India in conversation with Harshal Yashwant Desai from Elets News Network (ENN).

Tell us about Trend Micro’s operations in India? Which are the sectors that you cater to the most in the country?
We have been into Indian market since 17 years. We are one of the biggest organisations in the ‘Security’ domain , offering our services to big, medium and small enterprises across the nation. We have a successful track record of working with enterprises and assisting them with required solutions needed to ensure security within their organisations by mitigating prevalent and future risks.
Software and server security threats and issues are not restricted to any particular vertical and any organization trying to adopt new technologies to become more agile and competitive are susceptible to cyber threats. However, as the fact remains, there are few verticals where security can’t be compromised at all – Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), Defence, Government Institutions, Public Sector Units (PSUs), Pharmaceuticals and IT and ITES etc being some of them. IT and ITES, BFSI and Government Sector are the three vertical that make up to 40 per cent of our business.

How has been the performance of the organisation in recent years? What are the growth drivers?
According to a recent independent report, we – with 25 per cent market share – are the largest security player in Asia Pacific region. We are the fastest growing company among all our competitors.
Our ability to solve customers’ pain is the biggest growth drivers for us across the world.
With the changing technology, issues and challenges are also going through a paradigm shift. 10 years back, generic spam was one of the biggest issues for enterprises. This was the time when we came out with a required solution to counter generic spam. Later, we offered solutions for virtualisation platform for our customers.
We introduced first specific virtualised solutions for customers. Later, when our customers and enterprises in general started adopting cloud computing technologies, we again introduced solutions which could help customers to migrate to cloud in a secure way.
Today, we collaborate with Azure, AWS, IBM, etc to offer apt and advanced cloud migration services to our customers. Further, we also offered solutions to save our customers from targeted attack. Currently, ransomware is of the most challenging issues. Earlier the virus used to attack only individuals, but now it has been attacking public and private enterprises of all sizes. Last year, we had launched a specific solution to protect customers from ransomware.
Our ability to protect customers is an important element which is actually helping us to grow. We are number one in cloud and virtualisation security globally and in India as well. Some of the largest banks, IT and ITES and manufacturing businesses using Trend Micro’s deep security solutions to protect their data centre and servers.

Please update us on the launch of XGen™ Endpoint Security.
As stated earlier, this new offering is powered by the XGen™ blend of cross-generational threat defense techniques that intelligently applies the right technology at the right time, resulting in more effective and efficient protection against a full range of threats. I am glad to share that Trend Micro has been named a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms since 20023. In 2016, Trend Micro placed furthest to the right in the quadrant for Completeness of Vision.

What are the benefits of moving to cloud?
Moving to cloud bring a lot of benefits to the customers. It brings in lot of agility and flexibility. Besides, it also ensures a huge cost advantage for the customers. However, we have seen that enterprises are still apprehensive about the security of their data hosted on cloud for the simple reason that customers do not know where the data is hosted and how it is protected.
Further, they are also not sure about the roles of cloud service providers and themselves in managing and protecting the data. These are the two most basic concerns of customers – particularly the customers who are driven by law enforcement agencies of compliance agencies in India as they do not have clear guidelines on several cases. The guidelines are evolving and some players from BFSI have now started using cloud.
We believe that we are catalyst for those who want to move to cloud faster. We believe in ensuring hundred per cent security for the customers by keeping all the answers pertaining to cloud computing security ready for them. We not only assist customers but we also help cloud service providers to ensure data security with our solutions.

How has been your experience of working with BFSI and Government Sector?
Overall, the journey – though it has been challenging – has been good. We have been successfully working with them (BFSI and Government Sector) for many years now. Initially, enterprises would not bother about cyber attacks until they see it happening, but recently, companies are taking proactive approach to counter-attack the cyber threats. Hence, they are ensuring proper security features within their organisation. We must understand that every organisation’s risk profile is different from others. It depends a lot on several elements including operating systems, software and networking platforms and architectures they use within their premises. There can never be one-fits-for-all kind of solution.
You need solutions which can be executed in heterogeneous environment. Risk dynamics are changing and threats might enter from multiple entry point. So, you do not just need to block those multiple entry point, but, you also need to increase the visibility so that you can take proactive measures to counter attacks. From these perspectives, I can certainly assure that Trend Micro can play a critical role in determining the security all around and create a safer environment for our customers.

We have been into Indian market for 17 years. We are one of one of the biggest organisations in the ‘Security’ domain , offering our services to big, medium and small enterprises across the nation.

What is your viewpoint about the preparedness of Indian enterprises to face cyber attacks?
Enterprises in India have certainly started to battle against the cyber attacks. This is actually an ongoing process. Technological advancements not only assisting us to secure our systems, but these are also being manipulated by the hackers. Hence, it is very imperative to stay one step ahead. I will like to convey that we should not wait for the attacks. Proactive approach is very important.

What are the Trend Micro’s R& D activities?
Sizable amount of our budget goes into our research and development activities. Our research team is spread across the world. We have our experts in USA, Japan, India, China, Taiwan and several other locations who are persistently involved in bringing new and innovative solutions to the table. In India, we have a small but important team which works on the upcoming threats that may adversely affect the operations in different organisations

"Exciting news! Elets Banking & Finance Post is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest insights!" Click here!

Elets The Banking and Finance Post Magazine has carved out a niche for itself in the crowded market with exclusive & unique content. Get in-depth insights on trend-setting innovations & transformation in the BFSI sector. Best offers for Print + Digital issues! Subscribe here➔ www.eletsonline.com/subscription/

Get a chance to meet the Who's who of the Banking & Finance industry. Join Us for Upcoming Events and explore business opportunities. Like us on Facebook, connect with us on LinkedIn and follow us on Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest.