Risk Reduction Is Essential For Financial Institutions
Advancing Technologies And Evolving Threats Create Huge Risk To Your Organization
Over the last 20 years, new technologies have transformed how financial firms and banking institutions operate. With virtually all activity conducted digitally, the financial sector faces new risks when it comes to data security. Data theft, data manipulation, and the loss of sensitive intellectual property can mean not only the loss of billions of dollars and higher cyber insurance premiums, but can also cause irreparably damage to your institution’s reputation. With threats ranging from criminal and cyber terrorism attacks to system failures and human error, the need for extensive cyber defense plan are essential in today’s ever-changing threat landscape.
Specific Challenges in the Financial Industry
Regulations
Financial institutions juggle several regulations, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, FISMA and PCI-DSS, among others. Maintaining compliance with any one of these entities can be difficult enough, but compliance with all of them can be even more so, especially when you consider the strict procedures involved.
Evolving Threats
On top of regulatory and customer problems, the financial industry is constantly under attack from hackers attempting to glean valuable financial information through vulnerabilities in financial systems. This problem isn’t helped by the fact that evolving cloud environments have separated data stores. Though convenient, these are common points of attack for hackers and can leave systems vulnerable to devastating breaches.
Protecting Customer Data
Financial institutions handle the detailed financial information of hundreds if not thousands of people, making it more difficult to track fraudulent activity. With so many individuals with such varied financial behaviors, determining normal behavior from potential fraud is key to keeping your organization safe.
Cyber Talent Shortage
Both the government and the private sector are scrambling for talent. Thousands of information-security jobs are going unfilled as the industry in the U.S. struggles with a shortage of properly trained professionals. By one estimate, there will be 3.5 million unfilled cyber security jobs by 2021.
Governance, Regulation & Compliance
If you are a Financial Services Institution the chances are you are regulated.
For organizations in financial services, compliance concerns come from a variety of laws, guidelines, and industry rules, including:
- The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
- Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)
- Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)
- Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)
- New York State Department of Financial Services 23 NYCRR 500 (for firms in New York state)
- Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council/National Credit Union Administration (FFIEC/NCUA) Guidelines
Cost Of Non-Compliance
Hefty Penalties & Fines
The costs and consequences of non-compliance within financial services firms are greater than ever before. While the cost for firms endeavoring to be compliant has been growing with the rapid rate of regulatory change, it is the myriad costs of failing to be compliant which are now taking center stage.
Criminal Fraud
If a company states it is compliant when it knowingly is not compliant, that is misrepresentation of material facts. This is a criminal act that is defined as any act intended to deceive through a false representation of some fact, resulting in the legal detriment of the person who relies upon the false information (e.g., False Claims Act).
Brand Reputation Damage
Customers want to believe their information is protected and that they are doing business with companies practicing legally and ethically. Compliance violations can turn customers away. That makes it hard for a company to recover its reputation, as there are few to no new customers to vouch for the trustworthiness of your business. The damage to brand reputation can often cost even more than those fines. .
Inceptus Can Help Your Organization
Inceptus provides Customized Protection Plans to Answer Compliance and Keep Your Organization Safe.
Inceptus provides financial institutions, including regional banks and credit unions, with the services they need to operate in compliance and stay safe from cyber threats and accidental data breaches. Inceptus can design a customized Protection Plan that is tailored to address the gaps in your current ecosystems cyber security stance, comply with regulation and provide the ultimate protection against hackers, malware/ransomware and downtime, all while protecting your brand & reputation. Inceptus helps ensure that the sensitive data of financial institutions remains secure.
