Threats and challenges facing the financial services industry

The year 2020 could be defined as a “changing” year for the financial services sector. Some firms have seen increased demand for their services, while others have struggled to cope with falling mortgage settlements and reduced consumer spending. At the security level, many financial services firms have had to deal with new ways of working, including implementing virtual CISOs and struggling to protect remote workers from higher levels of cyber threats. However, it is worth recognizing that very few of the threats facing remote employees are entirely new. In fact, most of the challenges facing the industry, and in particular the increasing complexity of supply chains and consumer networks, have been around for at least a decade.

Even so, there are new developments, so let’s take a look at the threat landscape and highlight the challenges ahead.

1. Complex supply chains

Customers are increasingly interested in managing their finances through an interconnected network of traditional banking tools and new accounting applications. Any personal accounting software consumers use to keep track must be PCI DSS compliant to ensure encryption in a secure environment and reduce the likelihood of falling victim to a cyberattack. However, this is not enough. Financial services organizations must focus on visualizing and protecting Endpoint data to address the increased number of potentially exposed Endpoints. This includes scanning assets, running patch detection and vulnerability scans to locate problems.

2. Identity and Credential Theft

While the financial services industry has had to deal with the consequences of identity theft for years, 2020 was a year in which identity and credential theft exploded. This increase has occurred despite increased consumer awareness of the risks of identity theft and shows that awareness of these dangers is not enough.

3. Ransomware

The rise of ransomware over the past year, and particularly during the pandemic, indicates that thieves and hackers are taking a more sophisticated approach than ever before. The consequences of a successful attack go beyond the immediate loss of customer data, and more into the loss of public trust which is what really hurts a company.

4. Emerging technologies

Finally, and while many companies in the financial sector are still struggling to cope with the challenges posed by the current generation of technologies, it is becoming increasingly clear that the next generation of technology will enable cyber-attacks of unprecedented scale and speed.

Of this group of emerging technologies, two are of particular concern. One is the deployment of 5G mobile networks, a technology that is a key prerequisite for the widespread adoption of strong encryption for financial applications, but which also gives attackers access to much greater capabilities when it comes to committing crimes. The second is AI, which is already being used to produce deep fake videos that can fool biometric security systems.

In conclusion, financial services companies are required to be constantly vigilant across the entire threat landscape. With the vast amount of data available, the prevention of security risks must be advanced. redborder enables financial institutions to have complete, clear and visual analytics for preventive, decision-making purposes. By using redborder as a protection tool in the financial sector, the weakest areas are strengthened and the economic decline that can result from these attacks is avoided.