Protecting confidential consumer information requires not only a technology solution, but a community solution with a commitment to a global standard of trust that benefits all stakeholders including the general public.

We recently received a press request from a major U.S. newspaper. The journalist was seeking insights on how Big Data could help to resolve cybersecurity issues. The journalist made the following assertion:Humans alone cannot fight cyber-crime. The problem is literally too big. While cleverDome would certainly agree that the right technology is an essential part of the equation, we would also strongly state our well-considered opinion that technology and humans must come together to solve the problem. Here is our Q&A with the writer.

Q:Should companies use big data analytics to fight cyber-crime?

A: Yes, artificial intelligence/big data analytics will be a useful tool to fight cyber-crime. But it will not solve the problem because it, like other cybersecurity products and services, is based on a broken security model, the open Internet (i.e., the cloud), which is not secure.  Today’s solutions are tomorrow’s vulnerabilities as cyber criminals continue to find ways to attack the open Internet, which they will continue to do by using their own artificial intelligence and big data analytics.

The real solution is to take confidential information off the open Internet. That is the solution that cleverDome, Inc.^TMdelivers with “the Dome,” which provides the fundamental model for the future of a secure network: The unification of secure devices with a secure communication layer coupled with risk management utilizing a common due diligence standard. 

Q: How does it work?

A: The “Dome” is a revolutionary model built on a community-driven platform that delivers a software defined perimeter (SDP), a logical set of disparate, network-connected participants within a secure computing enclave, for the cloud. Confidential data is hidden from public discovery via the cleverDome secure network, and access is restricted by cleverDome to the specified cleverDome Members, removing confidential client data from public visibility and reducing the surface area for attack.

1. Secure Devices: Entry to the Dome is restricted to secure devices (i.e., known devices) with end point protection in place and 24/7 monitoring. 
2. Secure Network: In a traditional network, data jumps between edges and public Internet servers.  But under the Dome, data is protected by a private Internet where the data goes through a specially configured cloud directly to the destination point using real Military Grade Cybersecurity.  The data is fractionalized and dispersed over multiple channels.  The result is a private network that is safe, reliable and 10 times faster than a VPN connection.
3. cleverDome Member Risk Management:   cleverDome acts as a trust broker by provisioning cleverDome Members to exchange confidential data.  Each cleverDome Member is required to meet the cleverDome Standards and complete the due diligence process to enter the Dome. 

Q:Why cleverDome? 

A: The “Dome” is the first community-built and proven model that redefines the standards for protecting the most confidential data and information of consumers in the cloud by taking confidential information off the open Internet and putting it “under the Dome.”^TM

The Dome is currently being used in the financial services industry with Members including software service vendors, custodians, broker/dealers, registered investment advisers and financial advisors.  The Dome ultimately will be extended to include consumers and will also be available for other industries (e.g., healthcare, education) within and outside the United States.

The cleverDome cybersecurity solution is critical to not only the financial services industry, but to the general public. The only real solution is to take confidential consumer information “under the dome,” secure and off the open Internet. But to do that requires the creation of a global standard of trust, a trust network where participants know that other participants are secure under the Dome.

Q: Why is a community-built solution the only viable solution?

A:cleverDome was created to deliver the first community-built and proven secure trust model to protect the most confidential data and information of consumers in the cloud. We did this in partnership with financial services industry thought leaders who understood and agreed that cleverDome’s mission to protect confidential consumer information required not only a technology solution, but a community solution with a commitment to a global standard of trust that benefits all stakeholders including the general public.

cleverDome operates like a Co-Op where independent broker/dealers, registered investment advisers, custodians, fintech companies and managed securities service providers are coming together to form a true trust network. cleverDome’s Benefit Corporation structure is critical to cleverDome’s purpose and its mission, which mandates a higher level of transparency and accountability, allowing us to act in the best interests of cleverDome Members and the public, not just its shareholders.

After reading thoroughly this Q&A we hope you will agree: Protecting confidential consumer information requires not only a technology solution, but a community solution with a commitment to a global standard of trust that benefits all stakeholders including the general public.
To lean more about our mission and structure, click here to read an important message from cleverDome co-founder and CEO, Aaron Spradlin.

Bridget GaughanCo-Founder and Chief Risk Officer