Resolving Audit Failures: Strengthening Data Access Controls

The Challenge:

A global investment bank failed a high-visibility audit when inappropriate access was discovered across project and application shares. Internal tools proved ineffective, covering only a fraction of the data estate and leaving major blind spots. Key challenges included:

• Incomplete and inaccurate data collection: With both legacy and modern storage systems in play, the bank struggled to gather consistent and accurate information.

• Complex and varied use cases: Permissions were inconsistent across parent and child folders, open access was buried deep within directory structures, and stale data persisted across shares.

• Lack of clear ownership: Conflicting or missing ownership records made it nearly impossible to assign accountability to specific business areas.

• Challenging owner outreach: Sensitive areas of the bank, including investment banking and HR, required careful communication strategies, while other departments needed faster, more aggressive campaigns.

• Delayed remediation and compliance risks: Manual processes introduced bottlenecks, often causing delays between ownership validation and permission changes.