Smart Security for Complex Clouds: OPSWAT Empowers a $31B Bank
Banks are increasingly moving sensitive operations to the cloud, embracing platforms like AWS to scale operations and accelerate innovation. Yet, this migration also brings heightened risk.
Cybercriminals often target financial institutions for their vast stores of valuable data. And with regulatory pressure mounting-from SOX and GLBA to FFIEC guidance-banks must strike a difficult balance: securing cloud workflows while maintaining performance, compliance, and business continuity.
This was exactly the situation facing our client, a major U.S.-based financial services provider. With $31.6 billion in assets and over 1,850 employees, the bank prides itself on its technology-forward approach and strong security posture. But as it expanded its cloud presence across AWS, using multiple accounts, regions, and OUs (Organizational Units), the complexity of its environment became a serious obstacle.
We had a vision for scalable, secure file scanning in the cloud, but our infrastructure was starting to work against us. Our legacy connection model wasn’t scalable or secure enough for where we needed to go.
Director of IT Security
This bank's specific cloud security needs came with major hurdles:
Private Link Limitations
AWS S3 has limited support for Private Link integration, which can make direct secure access to buckets through this preferred method challenging.
Multi-Account Complexity
The bank managed multiple AWS accounts and regions, complicating access management and resource allocation.
Scalability Requirements
A planned shift from EC2 to ECS/EKS required a flexible, modern deployment approach.
Manual Configuration Risks
Hardcoded connection URLs and inconsistent access policies increased the risk of error and misconfiguration.
Security is always top of mind for our customers. But with our growing cloud infrastructure, we needed a more scalable and secure approach that wouldn’t disrupt our operations.
Senior Cloud Architect
Private Link-Ready Integration with IAM Role Support
Recognizing the need for a modern, resilient solution, the bank partnered with OPSWAT to reimagine its approach. OPSWAT deployed MetaDefender Storage Security in a tailored configuration that addressed every concern, enabling secure S3 access through Private Link, automating policy enforcement, and easing the move to containerized environments.
IAM Role Integration with Private Link
Engineered a solution that securely accessed S3 buckets via Private Link by leveraging IAM roles, bypassing the limitation for native Private Link support.
Centralized Resource Management
Recommended consolidating operations under a single S3 account to reduce complexity and streamline governance.
Containerized Deployment
Transitioned MetaDefender Storage Security from EC2 to ECS/EKS, enabling elastic scaling and better resource efficiency.
Validated QA Environment
Conducted rigorous testing in QA environment to ensure Private Link functionality and S3 compatibility.
Flexible Deployment Strategy
Explored region- and account-specific configurations to meet future scalability demands.
Scalable, Secure, and Efficient Cloud Storage Security
With OPSWAT’s solution in place, the bank saw immediate and measurable improvements:
75% Faster Security Update Deployments
Transition to ECS/EKS enabled rapid rollout of policy and engine updates, ensuring timely deployment across their complex systems without downtime.
Secure, Compliant Access
IAM role-based S3 integration greatly reduced API key exposure risk.
Reliable Private Link Scanning
Achieved secure, high-throughput S3 scanning without compromising compliance or operational performance.
Streamlined QA and Rollout
Comprehensive testing ensured confidence in deployment across multiple regions and accounts.
Future-Proof Architecture
Flexible design supports future scaling without rearchitecting security workflows.
Thanks to OPSWAT, we’ve secured our S3 storage and gained a scalable deployment model with ECS. It’s a game-changer for our cloud security and meets our needs not only now, but for the foreseeable future.
Senior Cloud Architect
A Forward-Thinking Cloud Security Strategy
As cloud adoption accelerates in the financial sector, adapting security protocols to these complex environments is critical. For this bank, partnering with OPSWAT was about more than solving today’s challenges; it was about building a future-ready foundation.
With secure S3 access now streamlined, the bank has greater confidence in its ability to meet internal and regulatory demands while continuing to innovate. The flexibility of OPSWAT’s solution means the security team can scale protection as the infrastructure grows, without rearchitecting workflows or compromising performance.
Looking ahead, the bank plans to expand secure file scanning across more use cases, including customer-facing portals, internal automation pipelines, and vendor integrations. Long-term, automation will play a key role, with event-driven scanning and policy enforcement enabling real-time, hands-off threat mitigation.
OPSWAT has become a cornerstone of our cloud security architecture. It gives us the control we need today and the agility we’ll need tomorrow.
Senior Cloud Architect
With OPSWAT, the bank is no longer reacting to cloud complexity; it’s staying ahead of it.
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