Sunwest Bank moves from reactive monitoring to proactive validation

The challenge

Sunwest Bank needed to secure a continuously expanding API landscape built by internal, partner, and external teams, with complex business logic and strict regulatory requirements, without slowing innovation.

What they did

apisec runs pre-production, automated, continuous validation across all of Sunwest's APIs, with real-time updates on risk and integration into the bank's learning-management system for ongoing security training.

The outcome

Sunwest moved from reactive monitoring to proactive, continuous validation, with apisec always checking its APIs and surfacing issues at a level of detail the team had not had before.

About Sunwest Bank

Company: Sunwest Bank
Founded: 1969
Industry: Banking
Locations: Arizona, California, Idaho, Florida, Utah
Mission: Helping entrepreneurs achieve their American dream and giving back to our community.

Sunwest Bank, founded in Tustin, CA, has been serving the nation for over fifty years. Under the guidance of industry veteran CIO Matt March, Sunwest has transformed its technology landscape, focusing on APIs, banking-as-a-service, payment rails, fintech integration, proprietary application development, data management, information security, information technology, and regulatory compliance.

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Business Challenge

Sunwest Bank needed to secure a continuously expanding API landscape across a distributed development model involving internal and third-party applications. Their key challenges included:

• Managing APIs developed by internal, partner, and external teams.
• Continuously evolving applications with complex business logic.
• Adhering to stringent regulatory requirements.
• Maintaining security without hindering innovation.

To address these challenges, Sunwest required a robust application security program that supported close collaboration between development, IT, and security teams.
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The Solution

apisec pre-production, automated, and continuous API testing solution was the perfect fit for Sunwest Bank’s needs. The solution effectively monitors all of Sunwest’s APIs, providing real-time updates on risks and issues, which are crucial for maintaining platform security.
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Features of apisec:
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• Automated daily penetration tests against the latest API build.
• Real-time updates on security risks and issues.
• Seamless integration into Sunwest’s LMS system for continuous employee security training.
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The Business Impact

Coverage

"There are API security solutions that may monitor for anomalies or alert you when something might be under attack. That information is valuable, but the reactive nature of it is dangerous, especially in this industry, because that's where breaches happen. The ability to do proactive, continuous scanning of our APIs offers a much more comprehensive approach to API security. apisec is always checking our APIs, finding vulnerabilities, and the level of detail is amazing."  ~Matthew March

Responsiveness

"As with any security implementation, some things that need to be solved will pop up. With apisec, the few things that have come up, they've embraced and formed a solution efficiently.” Matthew March

Speed to Value

"We've basically gone from ground zero – evaluating the solution, to onboarding our APIs and building our models, to seeing significant progress against our API security in a short span of time. It's been incredible for me to see that level of growth in such a short amount of time."  Matthew March

Frictionless

"In many situations, security solutions create friction where it doesn't need to exist. apisec supports our "one team" approach in a way that makes it easy for all of us to work together to ensure we're identifying and fixing vulnerabilities; to deliver experiences with the speed and security that serves our customers." Matthew March

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Commitment to Future Security and Innovation

Looking ahead, Sunwest Bank is dedicated to further strengthening its application security measures. Their future focus includes:

• Expanding Testing Coverage: Continuously broadening the scope of application security tests to cover new functionalities and services.
• Enhancing Automation: Increasing automation in security processes to reduce manual intervention and accelerate response times.
• Ongoing Training: Investing in continuous training for their development and security teams to stay updated with the latest security practices and threats.
• Collaborating with apisec: Leveraging new features and updates from apisec to enhance their security posture.

By focusing on these areas, Sunwest Bank aims to stay ahead of potential threats, ensure robust protection of sensitive data, and reinforce its commitment to security and customer trust.

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