Global Credit Union Gains Proactive Cloud-First Security with F5

Vanzant’s security team rapidly adopted managed services with Distributed Cloud Services, which helped Global Credit Union’s cybersecurity team drastically reduce bot and DDoS attacks. These solutions can differentiate between automated and human traffic to protect customers and the business, enabling legitimate access without draining already strained security resources.

“I couldn’t do that with just my people,” notes Vanzant. “One, they don’t have the expertise. And two, there are just not enough of them to address that much bot activity against the network on an ongoing basis. F5 had the expertise and products to block the attacks, freeing up my team’s time to focus on driving key business objectives.” 

He adds, “F5 has played a crucial role in not only helping secure and deliver our applications but also in addressing the skills shortage we faced in security.” 

Distributed Cloud Services also support the credit union’s cloud migration initiatives and amplify its benefits. Vanzant says, “F5 allows us to have same services and defenses, but now in a cloud-native environment that gives us more efficiency that we don’t get on-premises.”

As the credit union’s cloud footprint grows, F5 solutions help tame the complexity of hybrid operations with technologies and application services that are consistent, comprehensive, and already familiar. The credit union’s networking team is currently deploying Distributed Cloud Network Connect by implementing CEs within their data centers as they transition from BIG-IP. This approach will not only help manage their networks across cloud and on-premises environments but also extend Distributed Cloud capabilities into their private network, positioning them for future cloud platform adoption. 

As the company increasingly builds cloud-native apps, readily bridging multiple environments is vital. Vanzant says, “We want solutions that will integrate with and provide very similar protection, from our data centers to the edge portion of our network. F5 solutions allow us to use the equivalent technology and thought process, so I don’t have to integrate another vendor or another technology into the environment."

That’s one reason the credit union actively leverages F5 Distributed Cloud WAF as an additional layer of protection for web apps. “Distributed Cloud Services allow us to minimize the complexities of adding another WAF provider to secure our web-facing sites,” says Vanzant. “That makes the transition a little easier on my team.”

Managed services with Distributed Cloud Bot Defense and DDoS Mitigation help Global Credit Union’s IT teams do more without increasing staff. Vanzant says the solutions not only provide missing expertise but also, in combination with the credit union’s cloud-first strategy, alleviate the maintenance burden of on-premises solutions—another time-saver for their busy IT staff.

Vanzant says Global Credit Union has come a long way since it began its shift to the cloud. “Now we’ve become a cloud-first organization reaping the scale, agility, and cost efficiency benefits while improving our customers’ experience,” he notes. “As our business moves forward into the future, we are expanding our use of Distributed Cloud solutions to make it simpler, easier, more economical, and more reliable to secure and manage apps across our digital estate.

For instance, the explosive growth of fintech service integrations is making API security increasingly important. “We’re dependent on API calls and sharing information with our applications,” says Vanzant. “We are actively evaluating F5 Distributed Cloud API Security to improve how we secure these endpoints, and the data shared across them.”

Meanwhile, to accelerate serviceability to customers while remaining secure, his team recently deployed Distributed Cloud CDN, which is expected to enhance the efficiency of calls and website responses. Vanzant says, “We believe that’s where we’re going to see our return on investment.”

As the credit union’s digital estate continues to evolve, F5 will be there to help. Vanzant praises such partnerships, saying, “Building a trusted vendor relationship is crucial to proactive security, seamless integrations, long-term resilience, and the ability to keep addressing evolving threats.”