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Bank Systems & Technology recently published an article  highlighting the partnership between Websense and First Tech Federal Credit Union. The article is centered on an interview with Phil Romero, senior security architect at First Tech Federal. Romero discusses how he recently partnered with  Websense to help safeguard data during a recent merger.

At the beginning of this year, First Tech Credit Union finalized a $4.75 billion merger with Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union, creating First Tech Federal Credit Union. This major merger combined a base of 335,000 customers in 38 branches across the United States.  And, protecting the large amount of sensitive data that needed to be exchanged and moved during the consolidation of the two organizations was essential for success.

While Addison Avenue had been using the Websense solution since 2007, First Tech had a different DLP system. Romero stated that he needed a system that was able to “identify and protect moving and static data, and be flexible enough to expand with a growing institution.” In this article, Romero explains how he found the Websense DLP system to be the best for the task.

"I've worked with several different types of DLP systems in the past, and being familiar with their functionality, it was clear that Websense was a robust enough product to really support the needs of the credit union moving forward," he explains. "The ease of management, throughput and performance capabilities, and the scope of visibility of the product itself really addressed all of our current and potentially future needs." – Phillip Romero, First Tech Federal Credit Union

Using the Websense DLP solution, First Tech Federal Credit Union was able to secure both its email and web activity. Romero noted that First Tech Federal Credit Union was able to secure more than 50,000 merger-related emails between April and November of 2010.

"The system is very robust and complete as a product," says Romero. "It has the ability to allow us to fingerprint the kind of information that we have to protect and then implement the control mechanisms to make sure that data stayed secure at all times, even when it left the company."

For more information on the Websense DLP solution, click here.

To read more about the Websense partnership with First Tech Federal Credit Union, check out our press release here.