IT Voice held an Interaction with Mr. Ruchin Kumar, Vice President – South Asia, Futurex
IT Voice: Can you describe Futurex’s role in helping organizations secure sensitive data in BFSI and other industries?
Ruchin: Organizations in the payment sector worldwide use Futurex’s HSMs, key management servers, and cloud HSM solutions to protect sensitive data. These solutions provide physically secure environments to run encryption algorithms, create and store encryption keys, and perform cryptographic processes. In short, organizations that need compliant, secure, and user-friendly data security find everything they need in our solution suite.
IT Voice: What specific challenges does the BFSI sector face regarding data security, and how does Futurex address these challenges?
Ruchin: We often help organizations in the BFSI sector replace their legacy or end-of-life HSM infrastructure to deploy new cryptographic use cases and expand their operations. Other frequent challenges are maintaining compliance with local and international regulations and streamlining management overhead. Regarding cryptographic management, data silos pose a formidable challenge at the enterprise level. We’ve honed our platform to eliminate data silos via centralized infrastructure management; that way, cryptographic resources are shared between business units from a central pool.
IT Voice: Could you explain how Futurex’s Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) contribute to securing sensitive data at rest or in transit?
Ruchin: A hardware security module (HSM) is a physically and logically secure device that performs cryptographic functions. Futurex HSMs use logical security features like dual-login controls and permissions management. They ensure physical security with tamper-resistant enamel casings, which protect the encryption components on the HSM’s circuit board. These physical security features also allow organizations to store encryption keys in a way that neutralizes the concern of exposure or breach. Furthermore, Futurex HSMs integrate with many business applications to perform encryption and manage their encryption keys. In other words, our HSMs use strong cryptography to meet data security needs of any type and scale.
IT Voice: How has Futurex adapted to the evolving digitalization and data security landscape over its 40-year history?
Ruchin: Thanks to our longevity, we’ve observed the industry’s evolution from within, making us particularly effective at anticipating emerging trends. Being familiar with the market allows us to provide genuinely cutting-edge solutions to our customers. For example, we were the first to offer HSM virtualization through our Vectera product line—an innovation that other cryptography providers soon imitated. We were also the first to provide a truly global cloud HSM platform. We accomplished this by establishing data centers in every geographic region, providing customers with high availability and low latency no matter their location.
IT Voice: Can you provide examples of successful implementations of Futurex’s solutions in the Indian BFSI sector and their impact on data security?
Ruchin: As a global payment processing and fintech hub, the Indian BFSI sector has a high demand for strong cryptography. We’ve seen increased demand for cloud cryptographic solutions among many organizations, from large enterprises needing to quickly deploy new use cases to fintechs wishing to accelerate their time to market. Our data centers in Mumbai and Hyderabad enable our Indian customers to comply with data localization requirements while enjoying the benefits of our cloud HSM platform.
IT Voice: What steps has Futurex taken to ensure compliance with data privacy regulations in India and globally?
Ruchin: India has high standards when it comes to compliance. Fortunately, we design our solutions with such high security and compliance that what works in North America or the EU also works in India. For example, India’s BSFI sector abides by PCI compliance requirements, which are a standard all over the world.
IT Voice: In what ways does Futurex inspire confidence in organizations looking to embrace digitalization without compromising sensitive data security?
Ruchin: When it comes to data security, there’s no better symbol of trust than a certification with a high standard of compliance. To pass that trust onto our customers, we ensure our solutions are validated under PCI HSM, PCI PIN, FIPS 140-2 Level 3, and many other widely recognized security standards. As a result, our customers enjoy the peace of mind that comes from using a trusted vendor that prioritizes compliance.
IT Voice: How does Futurex approach the unique data security challenges that industries like Telecom, Automobile, and Healthcare face?
Ruchin: Futurex specializes in custom development and on-site support. This customer-focused specialization extends from our guiding philosophy to treat each customer uniquely, listening carefully to fully understand their solutions and end goals. An auto manufacturer may need enterprise-grade certificate authority (CA) solution to secure its IoT devices, a telecom provider may need digital signing to authenticate calls, and a healthcare provider may need to encrypt its databases and establish a public key infrastructure (PKI) to secure network communications. These use cases are within our purview, and we always work closely with clients to find their ideal solution.
IT Voice: Could you elaborate on the role of Internet of Things (IoT) security in the BFSI sector and how Futurex is involved in securing IoT devices?
Ruchin: Futurex offers many cryptographic approaches to securing the Internet of Things (IoT). A certificate authority (CA) can issue digital certificates to authenticate IoT devices. Having a PKI solution enables organizations to manage systems of CAs as well as digital signing operations. Of course, the solution will depend on the individual organization and its security needs.
IT Voice: What are the plans and innovations that Futurex has in store for enhancing data security in a rapidly changing digital landscape, especially in India?
Ruchin: Futurex is committed to the Indian market, as evidenced by our data center presence in the country. We see tremendous demand for HSM cryptography, key management, and innovative cloud solutions from various market verticals. We’re excited to bring our industry-leading cryptographic solutions to a broader customer base and help raise the bar for data security even higher.
