HSH Nordbank London Branch (formerly Hamburgische Landesbank) runs a successful screen-based electronic banking application on an IBM AS/400. Customers connect to the bank over a secure private network using a traditional terminal emulator to access the application - Skyline.
Although the application has always been well suited for its job, Nordbank felt that customers saw its terminal 'green screens' as appearing a little cumbersome and old-fashioned. The application also required the installation of desktop emulation and communication software at each remote user station. Flynet proposed bringing the Skyline application screens directly to a secure web server, removing the need for the maintenance of remote software and giving the screens a contemporary feel.
Flynet went on to architect a solution that only took days to implement. Authorised users can now securely connect to a web server with SSL (secure sockets layer - the browser standard for encryption) and gain access to Skyline using 128 bit encryption. They then have access to the application as before - represented as normal web pages within their browser - including the facility for printing reports.
The majority of the host screens are transformed into web pages automatically and therefore required no special coding or attention during development. To give Skyline a new lift, however, the main menus were converted into easy to use push-button options. This approach allowed for rapid development whilst still addressing the need for a more contemporary look and feel.
As in any banking application, security is absolutely critical. A double firewall with the Flynet solution sandwiched in-between (a 'demilitarised zone') ensures that only authorised users can connect using SSL over the Internet. World wide web browsers connect to the system and are required to authenticate before any page can be viewed.
The IBM AS/400 itself is at no time accessible directly from the Internet. Flynet's solution has stood up to thorough penetration testing conducted by independent third party specialists.