Why financial services cybersecurity came into existence?
- Very sensitive and valuable information resides inside the financial sector, such as personally identifiable information, routing data, global stock, and investment algorithm.
- The loss of this data and intellectual property could have a major impact on the bank’s reputation and customer trust.
- Cybersecurity becomes the need of the hour as a financial institution matures with more and more information.
- These cybersecurity activities help in tackling and safeguarding the data even before financial services transactions and data are compromised.
- Also, the advances in bank cyber technology and services are improving their ability to protect and remediate threats.
How to ensure cybersecurity in the financial sector?
- Several measures can be implemented to keep business data, cash flow, and customer information safe online.
- These measures will prevent risk from several sources that include internet-borne attack, software vulnerabilities, or subvert the system.
- The first measure is to use a strong password, which might look like a combination of capital, lower case letters, numbers, and symbols, or use two-factor authentication.
- Make sure that you have control over accessing data and services, premises, and computer networks. It is also essential to limit sending and receiving certain types of email attachments.
- Set up firewalls as gatekeepers between your computers and the internet to prevent cyber threats, such as viruses and malware.
- Install and use security software such as anti-malware, anti-virus programs, and anti-spyware to detect and discard malicious code.
What are the benefits of enhancing financial services security?
- It helps in protecting the valuable intellectual property and customer data against cybercriminals.
- It promotes the development of strategies to enhance financial services compliance while reducing regulatory pressures.
- The enhancement of financial services will help in continuous monitoring and implementing cyberattack countermeasures.
- It reduces the time taken in responding to persistent threats.
- Simultaneously, it extends the skill sets and capabilities of IT professionals.
What are the major concerns related to financial services cybersecurity?
- A significant amount of progress has been made in cyber defense, domestically as well as overseas. The financial systems were mapped, and easy detection of the weak links was made possible.
- Even after practicing these methods, there are still four concerns that linger, namely, adversaries, lack of understanding, fragmentation of efforts, and new technologies.
- Adversaries refer to complexity related to technological dependence wherein people will face a problem in adapting and implementing the tech tools.
- Another concern is the dearth of information, creating hurdles and blockers in the process of leveraging cybersecurity. Also, there is a lack of understanding about tackling the situation when cyber risks hit business flows when the market is under stress.
- One concern is the increasing speed of new technologies. Technologies such as blockchain may dampen risk while cloud computing may reduce the risk but increase dependence on a few key providers.
What are the recommendations after learning the above concerns?
- It is essential to harmonize international regulations that foster resilience to cyberattacks and mitigate risk.
- The creation of lexicon for cybersecurity and financial stability communities will work not just for the benefit of financial experts but also improve two-way communication.
- Develop and share the maps of critical market structure, market processes, and conventions. Plans are needed on how cyber technology will interact with a financial situation, and based on that, action plans are developed.
- The right amount of effort should be made to bridge the gap between stakeholders, senior-level response executives, and cybersecurity communities to reflect the balance in the global nature of finance and cyberspace.
- These efforts should be made across all the financial centers and institutions to maintain consistency and the global nature of finance.
With the evolution seen in cybersecurity in financial services, it is significant to stimulate innovation in risk management and protect sensitive information that institutions hold. It is expected that AI (artificial intelligence) and bots as cyber technology will revolutionize interactions and transactions without disrupting the customer experience.
