In a world where cyberattacks are becoming more common, financial firms need to take cybersecurity seriously. But in a recent industry survey, 25% of finance leaders claimed “strengthening cyber security practices is the most important challenge their finance teams face today,” Forbes reported in August 2022.

 

As your business grows, so do the risks associated with cybersecurity threats. That’s why it’s important to ask yourself some key questions about cybersecurity and identify solutions in relation to your business. In this article, we answer some of those questions so that you can start building a foundation for cybersecurity in your growing financial firm. We also will demonstrate how “single-vendor solutions provide significant operational efficiency and security effectiveness compared with best-of-breed solutions,” as Gartner describes in their recent article on cybersecurity.

 

Five Cybersecurity Questions for Growing Firms

 

Broadly speaking, cybersecurity is the practice of protecting electronic information by mitigating information risks and vulnerabilities. Lasting finance cybersecurity resilience begins with a deeper understanding of the threat landscape for financial firms. Common threats include:

 

        • malware

        • phishing

        • social engineering

        • ransomware

        • and others

 

Financial firms need cybersecurity solutions that will continuously monitor for and protect against these threats. Financial leaders need to become familiar with the opportunities and solutions available to growing financial firms as well. Here, we provide answers to five critical questions about cybersecurity in these areas.

 

1. What is finance cybersecurity?

 

Cybersecurity in the financial services industry is distinguished from cybersecurity in other industries. In finance, “cybersecurity is broadly defined as the protection of investor and firm information from compromise through the use—in whole or in part—of information technology,” says FINRA. It includes more robust regulations, compliance requirements, and cybersecurity threats.

 

Cybersecurity leaders within financial services firms increasingly must align with line-of-business leaders in their firms as well. According to Forbes in a June 2022 article, “The CFO’s input and involvement has a growing influence on [cybersecurity] efforts and ensuring these capabilities align with the business strategy.” Smaller firms may have one person managing cybersecurity and other line-of-business roles simultaneously; these firms may benefit the most from outside help, such as the support from a single vendor, consultant, and partner.

 

2. Why is cybersecurity important for the financial industry?

 

“The SEC’s view is that cybersecurity threats and incidents pose an increasing, ongoing threat to public companies, investors, and market participants,” Forbes reported in June 2022 while discussing recent amendments to the SEC’s rules about cybersecurity risk management for financial firms. This is especially true as employees and stakeholders at these firms change the ways they work. Team members working in decentralized and remote office environments may struggle with essential preparations, including:

 

        • Keeping devices, credentials, and apps secure

        • Using strong authentication methods

        • Adhering to cybersecurity policies and procedures

        • Coordinating with one another about new cybersecurity measures and best practices (e.g., new types of
        phishing emails to avoid)

 

Fortunately, cybersecurity technology providers are responding to these dynamic changes with new solutions that support growing firms with limited cybersecurity resources. “With a hybrid workforce and data everywhere accessible by everything, vendors are offering an integrated security service edge (SSE) solution to deliver consistent and simple web, private access, and SaaS application security,” Gartner reports. “By 2025, 80% of enterprises will adopt a strategy to unify web, cloud services, and private application access from a single vendor’s security service edge (SSE) platform.”

 

3. What are the weak points of finance cybersecurity?

 

Financial firms have inherent weak points that make them uniquely vulnerable to certain cyberattacks. For example, insider threats are common in the financial services sector: “Insider threats reverberate throughout the financial industry,” SC Media reports, especially as employees increasingly resign and potentially expose critical data. Financial firms inherently carry sensitive data as well, such as the personal information of clients and employees, financial records, and more. 

 

As we will find, new solutions make it easy for even small financial firms to streamline cybersecurity resilience against these industry risks. Many cybersecurity providers now automate key aspects of cybersecurity, providing deep expertise in these security areas and relieving internal teams of the labor associated with protecting against these threats. Should a breach occur, automation can reduce the financial toll of a breach by as much as 80%, according to IBM.

 

4. What are the biggest cybersecurity threats right now for financial firms?

 

We have highlighted some of the basic cybersecurity threats to financial firms above. But these threats are becoming a greater risk as cybercriminals’ methods of attack become more automated, sophisticated, and difficult to identify and prevent. For example:

 

        • Ransomware attacks have become more sophisticated as cybercriminals create more specialized
        attacks for specific industries and    business types, including financial firms.

        • Social engineering attacks increasingly use AI-generated communications and even deepfakes to
        target financial firms and their employees.

        • Phishing attacks are becoming more sophisticated as cybercriminals use new methods to target
        victims, including through text messages (SMS phishing), social media, and chat apps.

 

Protecting against evolving threats requires cybersecurity solutions with sufficient support to evolve alongside them. This way, financial firms can be confident their cybersecurity investments will continue to pay off long into the future.

 

5. How can financial firms operationalize cybersecurity?

 

As suggested, financial firms can operationalize leading cybersecurity capabilities without substantial internal investments in skills, technology, and labor. For example, many firms are turning to managed cybersecurity service providers (MSSPs) to outsource cybersecurity operations. Leading providers offer comprehensive cybersecurity solutions that can be quickly and easily implemented to support a firm’s specific cybersecurity needs. These providers often offer pricing models that scale based on need and complexity as well, rather than requiring substantial investments upfront.

 

Cybersecurity Working for—Not Against—Key Lines of Business

 

 

The financial services sector is often portrayed as an industry under siege. Yet there are finance cybersecurity success stories in banking, insurance, and other verticals. Here we consider five common approaches that can help financial firms create a cybersecurity program that works for—not against—their key lines of business.

 

Adopt policies and procedures based on FINRA, SEC, and other applicable regulators’ recommendations.

 

Designate a single person who will champion cybersecurity initiatives within your firm and who will rally fellow team members around those initiatives. encourage that individual to familiarize themselves with relevant regulators’ cybersecurity guidelines and requirements. You may also wish to purchase a cybersecurity insurance policy if you can afford one.

 

Partner with a third-party expert for an industry-centric risk assessment. Ideally this partner is also a leading provider of Cybersecurity-as-a-Service (CSaaS) solutions.

 

Your partner will help you identify cybersecurity risks that are specific to your firm’s industry, size, location, data, and clientele. You may also share key line-of-business initiatives with your partner to ensure that your cybersecurity program does not inadvertently impede business growth.

 

Implement cybersecurity best practices across all lines of business.

 

This includes encrypting data in transit, using strong authentication methods, and verifying the identity of external parties before sharing sensitive information. In terms of technologies, your CSaaS partner should provide you with an SOC-as-a-Service solution that includes around-the-clock monitoring and incident response services.

 

Prepare and launch programs for cybersecurity training and awareness.

 

Your firm’s cybersecurity policy should be designed to protect employees, customers, and other stakeholders. It should also align with your business goals. To that end, you should launch programs for cybersecurity training and awareness that are tailored to the needs of these parties, making it easier for each of the to remain alert and attuned to your firm’s latest vulnerabilities, risks, and solutions.

 

Test and optimize both your incident response and your business continuity disaster recovery (BCDR) plans.

 

Your firm’s incident response plan should be designed to help you quickly and effectively resolve cybersecurity incidents. To test the plan, you can launch simulated attacks and then track and analyze the results. This will help you identify any gaps in your plan so you can make the necessary improvements.

 

To this end, your CSaaS partner should help you establish cybersecurity baselines and KPIs.  They should also provide regular reports that detail your firm’s cybersecurity posture and progress over time.

 

Working with a Single Partner & Provider

 

When looking for a cybersecurity partner, it’s important to find one that can provide comprehensive solutions. That means finding a partner who will help you avoid piecing together various cybersecurity technologies and services from multiple providers. In addition to discussing the latest threats, remember to consider and share the following:

 

        • The size and scope of your business

        • Your firms’ unique business goals

        • Your budget for cybersecurity solutions

        • Your in-house cybersecurity familiarity and expertise

 

A good partner will also provide you with the guidance and support you need to ensure that your cybersecurity program is always up to date. With these considerations in mind, you’ll be well on your way to finding the right cybersecurity partner and long-term solutions for your business.

 

Uvation is a Leading Cybersecurity Partner and Provider for Growing Financial Firms

 

Uvation offers a full range of cybersecurity services, including SOC-as-a-Service, incident response, and business continuity disaster recovery. We also have a team of experts who are well-versed in the latest cybersecurity threats and trends. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you protect your business.