Enabling Secure Digital Connections for Stockbrokers and Traders

Stockbrokers today are leveraging digitalisation to access market updates and deliver more profitable deals for their customers. However, the increased use of data pools and connected networks for work also requires them to be more particular about the security of their devices and the information they store on them. Tata Tele Business Services addresses these needs with tailored solutions for connectivity, cybersecurity and tech-defined trading operations.

The stockbroking industry in India has evolved consistently with new technology adoptions between 2009 and 2020. Internet banking, online financial advisory, algo trading apps, direct market access and the innovation brought by fintech startups disrupted the traditional stock marketing practices.

As the use of tech-rich tools continues to transform the financial and client servicing practices of stock traders and brokers, they also seek a suitable infrastructure for their operations.

The active players in this industry need custom apps to make their transactions more efficient. They must also have easy-to-deploy and fast data connectivity solutions to use such apps and get real-time updates from the market.

Besides, their devices and networks must be super-secure and free from the vulnerabilities of the public Internet. Any loopholes in the security can not only lead to data thefts and monetary loss but also reputational risks and penalties from regulators who have been reinforcing the compliance requirements for stock market services.

How to safeguard digitalised work models in the stock market – custom solutions by Tata Tele Business Services

Taking into account the technological prowess that is moving the stock trading market to the next level, Tata Tele Business Services (TTBS) has designed a variety of solutions to keep trading transactions efficient and secure. These include:

Ultra LOLA

Our exclusive tool for this industry helps to execute trading transactions at unmatchable speed. We call it the Ultra LOLA. It builds an ultra-low latency network infrastructure for traders, allowing them to process market data fruitfully in real-time within seconds and with near-to-zero latency. The key features of Ultra LOLA are:

• It offers seamless connectivity between the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), with the shortest available distance possible in the TTBS fibre path to handle the traffic.
• It has upgraded the network solution for traders by replacing the traditional Ethernet over SDH (EoSDH) with special low latency switches.
• The solution eliminates the interim network elements between the switches at both ends to minimise processing delays.
• The solution reduces the latency from 280 microseconds to 230 microseconds or even better, making the connectivity 25 times faster than the usual network speed.

As a valuable business proposition best suited for traders, the TTBS Ultra LOLA enables seamless algorithm trading. It is also backed by a documented SLA.

Smart Internet Leased Line

Traders who work from stock exchange offices as also their homes can now get all the benefits of a privatised, secure, always-on and fast speed Internet connection for their operations. The Smart Internet Leased Line by TTBS is a plug & play ILL solution for remote access to data connectivity.

It is a zero-CapEx, low-cost solution that works on both desktops and mobiles. The service is easy to scale as the number of users grows, and it comes with a promised uptime of 99.5% backed by TTBS SLA.

The future-ready Smart Internet Leased Line has loads of bandwidth for speedy transactions and to have HD video calls with clients. It supports traders efficiently in their daily activities, regardless of the location they work from.

Email Security

Emails are the primary online threats for any data stored on a PC or mobile device. Stock market workers receive hundreds of mails from their clients. They also get updates from businesses and regulatory bodies.

With TTBS Email Security, traders can protect any email platform that they use for work – Microsoft Exchange, Outlook, Office 365, Gmail or any other domain at on-premise servers. Our cloud-based solution keeps them secure against the dangers of malicious emails sent by bad actors and through counterfeit IDs.

TTBS Email Security is powered by FirstWave Cloud Technology’s ESP™’s email software technology, Cisco-based ESA/IronPort, and Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) technologies.

In addition to protecting email users against spyware, malware, viruses and spam, it can also detect and thwart advanced persistent threats like spearphishing, whaling, typo domain, and spoofing attacks.

With Email Security on the device, users get the benefits of data loss prevention, advanced content control, assured disaster recovery and 32 days trace replay.

This highly dependable and feature-rich security service for emails is easy to set up and works in the background without flashing disruptive messages on the screen. It also comes with analytics and policy enforcement for ease of content management.

Multifactor Authentication

Traders working independently, without the support of IT teams as in large corporate offices, must keep their devices secure against a range of cybersecurity vulnerabilities originating in the ever-changing threat environment. One of the defences they can use here is a multifactor authentication (MFA) system that requires more than one form of authentication to validate the legitimacy of a transaction.

TTBS offers a leading MFA tool powered by Cisco Duo. It is a zero-trust security solution that safeguards access to applications and data across personal devices.

Quick and easy to configure on a machine, our MFA solution has multiple authentication methods, giving users the liberty to choose the one that best fits their workflow – these, among others, involve soft or hard tokens, push authentications or U2F.

MFA is an effective way to check credentials and ensure that only authorised users access a device and its contents. It also prevents hackers from remotely accessing and controlling a device, its applications and even an entire network.

On the other hand, the authentication of genuine users happens in seconds, with a single sign-on process and no codes to enter. They can also set up adaptive security policies tailored to their trade practices.

Virtual Firewall

A firewall is yet another solution that the trading community can use to secure their devices. It monitors and controls the incoming and outgoing network traffic for a device.

The Virtual Firewall Security by TTBS is an enterprise-grade firewall solution that can be used from any location on any device. It inspects all applications and content accessed on a device and reduces the response time to check potential attacks.

Based on the industry-leading Palo Alto Networks firewall technology, the TTBS Virtual Firewall comes with advanced security features and yet is simple to operate. Therefore, even traders who are not well-versed with IT procedures can streamline their cybersecurity by configuring this solution on their device.

Web Security

For stockbrokers who want to complement their email security, MFA and firewall with more tools to ward off the increasingly complex online threats, TTBS brings the Do Big Web Security.

With DNS-based technology powered by Cisco Talos intelligence and Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP), the Do Big Web Security can determine the intent of web requests, URLs and files. The solution assesses them to check if they are safe, risky or malicious. It then routes, blocks or sends them for further inspection as per the results obtained.

Do Big Web Security offers quick, real-time and comprehensive visibility into online activities. And it removes any threat safely before it can impact or even reach the endpoints of networks and devices. From web filtering and collective security intelligence to portal reporting and category-based URL filtering, it comes with a range of features that make it an enterprise-grade web security solution.

Its simplicity of use and ability to get started in minutes makes the solution highly suitable for freelancing stockbrokers and traders. It becomes a strong guard against cyber threats, while users continue to pay attention to their revenue-generating work.

Endpoint Security

A popular offering on the cybersecurity portfolio of TTBS is the Endpoint Security that defends computers against increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks.

Our Endpoint Security solution offers a multi-pronged defence mechanism against threats such as viruses, spyware, ransomware and other malicious web content. It has more than ten security features to safeguard network endpoints in desktop PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones. The tool comes with predictive machine learning abilities to maintain the highest levels of security for devices used in professional and personal work.

The solution is easy to deploy, scale and has an administrative panel to see what’s going on with a device. It is compatible with all popular operating systems including Windows, iOS and Android.

Optimise your operations. Protect your device and data.

With market conditions changing by the minute, the work of stockbrokers is admittedly challenging. The cyber threats that can hamper their work and steal their data are also very real.

This is why investments in custom platforms, connectivity solutions and security tools are essential for the trading community. Feel free to contact the Tata Tele Business Services team for more details or to order our products made for next-generation work practices.