11 Pub. 11 2022 Issue 3 It’s no secret that financial institutions remain attractive targets for cybercriminals due to the amount of sensitive data they hold. Cyber threats and attack vectors are ever-changing, especially due to the current geopolitical climate. As a result, banks should embrace a holistic cybersecurity approach to strengthen their defenses against these evolving threats. While the prevalence of cyberattacks has led many consumers to become desensitized to the potential risks, your bank cannot afford to become numb to the looming operational and reputational risk. According to IBM’s 2021 Cost of a Data Breach Report, the average cost of a breach in the financial services industry was nearly $6 million. Here’s the unfortunate truth: Your bank cannot rely on a single solution to protect against every attack. But a holistic strategy that includes layers of defenses offers the best protection against cybersecurity threats for your entire IT environment. Five Components of a Holistic Cybersecurity Approach The more security layers you have, the more difficult it becomes for cybercriminals to successfully infiltrate your systems. The following cyber hygiene tips aren’t exhaustive, but they do demonstrate how to mitigate cybersecurity risk by deploying overlapping layers of defenses. 1. Educate Your Employees While technology can stop a breach once detected, preventing a breach altogether with effective cybersecurity training will always be a more effective strategy. Your employees are on the frontlines of this fight to prevent attacks, and you should prioritize training for identifying and responding to the latest social engineering tactics. Educate employees on the evolving threats and ensure they know steps to take if they encounter a suspicious email, message or person. Consider providing cybersecurity training to your customers to further mitigate cybersecurity risk. 2. Update Your Security Policies As employees work remotely and institutions adopt cloud-based technology, systems operate and interact with increasing complexity. Because of this, security policies don’t always align with new technology. Reviewing and ensuring internal compliance with necessary security policies will strengthen your cybersecurity posture. For example, your bank may have proper policies in place, but these policies should be reviewed after implementing new technology, such as a migration to a cloud environment. Additionally, ensure your software is up to date and expedite the installation of patches to decrease the risk of exploitation. If vulnerabilities are publicly known, hackers will try to take advantage before patches are implemented. 3. Ensure Complete Visibility with Cybersecurity Monitoring In today’s cybersecurity landscape, your bank must avoid any blind spots in your monitoring. You need a holistic view of your environment, or you could miss security incidents How to Enhance Your Bank’s Defenses with a Holistic Cybersecurity Approach By Sean Martin, Director of Product Strategy, CSI Continued on page 12
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