Executive Vice President Gary Glenn

Ensuring all of our under-one-roof services are secured in our state-of-the-art data center is a constant focus here at Synergent. From our dedicated Information Security Officer, who focuses solely on data security, to researching and implementing the latest mobile device protection, SSH protocols, SIEM tools, and LAN testing, FinTech is at the center of all we do.

We recently surpassed 100 million jobs completed on OpCon, our automated job scheduler. Working with so much data, how do we stay ahead of the curve? To answer this question, we asked for insights from Synergent’s Executive Vice President Gary Glenn, who has more than 30 years of experience in the credit union industry working with technology and operations:

1. Technology continues to advance at an unprecedented rate. Can you share the latest data center environment trends that Synergent is focusing on?

We continue to place a vast amount of resources in our data center on security. As the technology advances, so do the opportunities for the criminals to break through these advanced systems.

Tools like Secure Shell Protocol to secure a channel over an unsecure network are widely used. We have recently incorporated a Security Information and Event Management tool to monitor all areas of our network and our firewall. This tool can provide us any insight on any issues that arise in our network that may cause security concerns and allow us to close those issues faster than we ever have before.

We continue to increase the number of tests that are completed on our network every year, whether it be an internal test or tests performed by third-parties, these tests are also designed to find holes in our systems and allow us to substantially reduce the risk of attackers getting into our internal networks.

2. What safeguards has Synergent implemented to protect data being accessed on a mobile device?

We have implemented systems like AirWatch on all of our staff’s mobile devices that connect to our network. Each device has to be registered for it to be able to access our internal network – any device that does not have the proper credentials would be denied any type of access. This product also allows us to restrict users from adding apps that could be considered harmful to the mobile device and also allows us to remotely wipe out any mobile device that would get lost or stolen. This is all designed to ensure that confidential data and member data stay safe every day.

3. What upgrades has Synergent implemented to maintain its state-of-the-art infrastructure?

We are continuously upgrading our network to keep up with the needs of the staff and our credit unions. We are currently in the process of upgrading our firewalls to virtual firewalls. This implements the ability to look at the smallest detail in incoming and outgoing traffic to determine any threats, then takes the appropriate action. We have also just recently replaced our SAN hard-drives with flash drives, which have no moving parts and dramatically increases speed and reliability for the user, and in turn, increases the speed within our network.