Flywheel
Enterprise-grade firewalls and Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) to protect and authenticate approximately twenty thousand card transactions per month.
Overview
Flywheel IT is an organisation established by a group of Irish Credit Unions to set up and manage their own Card Payment Authorisation Systems. Their intention was to also provide these services to other external Credit Unions in Ireland.
Challenge
HCS were approached with a requirement for enterprise-grade firewalls and Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) to protect and authenticate approximately twenty thousand card transactions per month. An operation of this size needed IT solutions that are totally airtight, with no margin of error. Some of the people behind Flywheel had previously worked with Thales for their HSMs, and were keen to involve them in this new project. Thales HSMs are behind most banks’ ATMs, and are recognised globally as the most secure solution for bank card transactions.
Solution
Starting out, we arranged for two initial meetings. The first with Flywheel, to discuss the requirements of the firewalls, and another with the Thales technical sales team to learn about the requirements and sizing of the HSMs. There were primary and secondary data centre locations to factor in as well.
Fortigate 400E Firewalls were selected as the best to protect the HSMs and server infrastructure. These were supplied with the best management and monitoring applications, and with Fortigate 360 Protection subscription sets to provide for all possible future requirements. Having established the various third parties that would utilise encryption on the HSMs, we determined the Luna Network S750 model would be the most secure and effective. We provided flexible, safe and efficient solutions that fit all of Flywheel’s needs.
“As we deal with financial information we needed to make sure our data was secure. We engaged with HCS to improve our security and they delivered a reliable and robust solution that protects our business now and into the future.”
