Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, also known as the Financial Modernization Act, was introduced in 1999 to protect customers' personal information held by financial institutions and in particular its confidentiality. The Act not only applies to banks, insurance firms and securities brokers, but also to any company offering financial services to consumers, including personal loan provision, tax advice and mortgages. Read on to find out how NGSSoftware's suite of security auditing tools can help your company achieve and maintain GLBA compliance.
Title V Subtitle A of this act - 'Disclosure of Non-Public Personal Information', is concerned with ensuring the confidentiality of client data held by a company. Section 501 states that financial institutions have "an affirmative and continuing obligation to respect the privacy of its customers and to protect the security and confidentiality of those customers' non-public personal information". This specifies the company's duty to ensure that customer data is not disclosed to unauthorised third parties, for example due to computer software insecurities.
NGSSoftware's automated vulnerability scanners are invaluable tools in maintaining a secure IT infrastructure. NGSSQuirreL can ensure that customer information is held on a well-configured and secure database server, meeting a company's responsibility under the act to preserve the confidentiality of personal data.
In response to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) issued a set of guidelines intended to assist institutions in meeting the requirements of Title V Subtitle A of the act.
The document, entitled "Guidelines for Safeguarding Member Information", deals with risk assessment and control. A company must: "identify reasonably foreseeable Internet and external threats that could result in unauthorized disclosure, misuse, alteration, or destruction of customer information or customer information systems". The guidelines also stipulate that an organisation should: "regularly test the key controls, systems and procedures of the information security program".
NGSSoftware provide a range of security scanners which can detect and recommend resolutions to potential threats to your IT infrastructure, both internal and external. Their ease of use means that regular network testing is simplified, and can be a vital element in achieving GLBA compliance.
