The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a surge in remote work, but existing RDS systems are unable to keep up. The surge in emails has caused excessive operational loads, such as server expansion.

Keiyo Bank operates 122 branches mainly in Chiba Prefecture. With the mission of "building a prosperous future for the region together," the bank has continued to contribute to the future of towns, people, and jobs by providing an extra something that only a "banking group with a face" can provide, as it has been rooted in the community and grown together with the community since its founding.

In 2017, the bank introduced RDS (Remote Desktop System), which allows for a web-separated configuration, with the aim of improving the efficiency of operations using the internet. At the time, the limit for simultaneous access was set at 200 users, but "this was still more than enough, as it was mainly used by public relations staff to send and receive emails and download proposal materials from clients," says System Management Group Leader Kazuhiro Mishima.

However, the situation changed dramatically with COVID-19 that began in 2020. Remote work increased, and meetings and seminars were also moved online. A web system was introduced for store reservations, and invoices were sent by email. Furthermore, personnel evaluations were shifted to SaaS, and access increased sharply several times a year.

As a result, access to RDS increased dramatically, and it was difficult to connect, or even when connected, the speed was slow, causing various problems in business. Numerous complaints were received by the systems department. Kazutoshi Araki, Chief Advisor of the Systems Management Group, looks back on that time and says, "In addition to these problems, the existing RDS also had other issues such as server malfunctions and high operational loads."

In addition, the sudden increase in email usage also necessitated the expansion of the existing on-premise email server. As the number of Box and users continued to grow, the company felt it had reached its limit in terms of operational burden, such as the need to repeatedly expand the email server, and decided to consider migrating to SaaS. At the same time, the company decided to consider a comprehensive solution to implement web and email security measures.

Email and web isolation bundled. Menlo Security was selected after evaluating its unique rendering technology ACR.

First, Keiyo Bank consulted with the SIer they were going to use, as the time to upgrade their RDS was approaching, but the proposal they received did not meet their expectations. "The proposal was an extension of the previous method, and there was no hope of improving the speed of processing," said Mishima.

While the bank was considering other solutions, Araki attended the Financial ISAC annual conference in May 2023 and visited the Menlo Security booth. He had tested it in the past, but was immediately intrigued when he learned that its functionality had improved significantly since then.

Furthermore, when we contacted Information Development (ID), with whom we had a previous relationship, we learned that Menlo Security had a wealth of experience working with financial institutions and local governments.
"We were considering introducing isolation not just as a replacement for RDS, but as part of the SASE infrastructure. ID offered proposals other than Menlo Security, but Menlo Security was the only one that offered email and web isolation as a set. We were also attracted by their unique rendering technology, 'Adaptive Clientless Rendering (ACR)'. We evaluated these points, as well as the reasonable price, and decided to adopt them," said Araki.

Isolation of email and web services provides a strong security environment. Speed is also greatly improved, and employee convenience is also improved.

Keiyo Bank officially ordered Menlo Security in December 2023. During testing prior to implementation, the bank had a problem in that it was unable to create a testing environment because it was simultaneously implementing other measures.
"In this regard, ID prepared the environment and carried out the tests, and provided us with regular feedback on the results," recalls Yuka Suzuki, lead engineer of the systems management group.

Thanks to these preparations, the implementation was completed smoothly, and operations began in April 2024. The number of licenses was increased to 3,050, and almost all employees were able to use the Internet and secure accounts for specific tasks. "Our employees access various sites for work, and we often received inquiries about not being able to reach the desired page. I remember that each time, it took a lot of time to figure out where to access, have Menlo Security handle it, and then have them check again. However, the process itself was easy to understand and anyone could do it after doing it once. Most of the time, the reason for the inability to access was interference with SaaS certificates, and in some cases we had to take a detour, but the number of inquiries has been decreasing as we have dealt with the issues, so I think it will calm down soon," said Mishima.

After Menlo Security was introduced, ID staff were stationed on-site to provide support.
"When we had problems with support, ID quickly investigated the issue. When necessary, they also referred us to Macnica or Menlo Security. Thanks to this, the number of inquiries has decreased recently, and the ease of use has become widespread within the company." (Mr. Suzuki)

At the time of the interview (June 2024), it had been approximately two months since the bank introduced Menlo Security, and the bank says that its greatest benefit has been the realization of a robust security environment through the isolation of email and the web.
"For example, we used to receive several inquiries a month from users who reported that, unintentionally, a harmful site such as a support scam appeared when they were using the web. However, since introducing Menlo Security, the number of inquiries has dropped to almost zero," says Araki.

In addition, the speed has improved significantly compared to the previous system, and there are no longer any issues with connection failures during peak traffic. Furthermore, because Menlo Security is provided as a SaaS, there is no longer any need to look after the system, and the operational burden has been reduced.
"Menlo Security is easy to use, so I think it has also increased convenience for employees. When you have more than 3,000 users, there is inevitably a disparity in literacy. It would be great if they added functions that make it intuitive for even people who are not good at IT to use it," said Suzuki.

Aiming to further utilize Menlo Security, looking forward to support regarding functional knowledge

Looking ahead, Keiyo Bank plans to make further use of Menlo Security. "We cannot say that we are making full use of Menlo Security's functions, so we will continue to receive information from Menlo Security and Macnica, and if there are any good functions, we would like to use them," said Araki.

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