Need for holistic cybersecurity measures in The BFSI Sector

As tech continues to evolve, so does the sophistication of cybercrime. In recent years, the actions of cybercriminals have intensified, and the scale of their operations has been thrust into the media spotlight. Methods have changed too; cybercriminals do not solely seek financial gain anymore but look to cause disruption, destroy data and in many cases, ruin reputations. With financial services companies processing large amounts of sensitive data and managing large cash balances, it is often they who face the heaviest waves of cyber-attack.

Financial services firms fall victim to cybersecurity attacks far more frequently than businesses in other industries as financial services providers such as banks, credit unions, credit card companies, and investment firms are entrusted with the personally identifiable information (PII) of every customer and client. This information includes home address, Social Security number, banking details, phone number, email address, and income information. The high value of this data on the darknet makes this sector an attractive target for cybercriminals.?

The advances in internet banking, mobile apps, and instant payments all require new technology. Heightened technology use invariably increases the industry’s attack vector and introduces new vulnerabilities.?When the attack severity increases, it may be likely that only a resilient and flexible cybersecurity model can prepare financial services companies to survive the inevitable cyber risks.

As such, financial services firms should consider raising their level of preparedness and evolve into a new cyber risk management paradigm that strives to achieve three fundamental qualities:

1. Being secure against known threats through risk-driven investment in foundational, preventive controls, and policies

2. Being vigilant by improving the ability to detect emerging threats and anomalous patterns amid the highly complex and data-saturated environment; and

3. Being resilient to enable the organization to recover from attacks as quickly as possible and minimize both direct and indirect damages

Why Financial Services?

Financial services firms are the perfect target for cybercriminals. The sector presents a constellation of reasons why it is under sustained attacks, such as:

1. High-value data: Financial services organizations collect, store and process enormous quantities of confidential and sensitive data that is valuable to cybercriminals. Identity data can be used for identity theft and phishing attacks, financial records leveraged to identify high-payoff victims, and transaction data analyzed for patterns to hide malicious payment requests and inform spear-phishing campaigns.

2. Direct access to money:?Financial firms are the conduit for gaining access to the financial assets of customers.

3. Long-term data retention requirements: Organizations are required to retain high-value financial and customer data for many years and also to have ready access to it. Long-term retention and access requirements increase the vulnerability of unauthorized access, encryption or destruction by ransomware, and data exfiltration.

4. Complex systems landscape: Financial services organizations collect, transact, and transfer money through a byzantine web of interconnected financial systems, supply chain members, and uncontrollable mobile devices used by consumers. Many have lax cyber security standards for third parties involved in developing financial software and systems.

5. Market disruptions: forcing fast responses Digital banks and fintech start-ups are attempting to disrupt the sector, which creates tremendous pressure for established providers to fight for continued relevancy and to retain current customers.

All industries and companies face cyber risk, but some sectors are more targeted and at risk than others. The financial and banking sector stands out among these as one with a great deal of sensitive and valuable information for attackers to target and numerous potential opportunities for cybercriminals to profit from their attacks.