In today’s interconnected digital landscape, information security is paramount.
Recent events have highlighted critical lessons for financial institutions around the U.S. to review and enhance their security posture. Let’s explore five key takeaways from recent cybersecurity incidents below.
Strong Security Monitoring
Effective security monitoring is essential for safeguarding your financial institution and your accountholders.
With recent global outages underscoring the need for a robust approach, it’s important to rethink your staffing strategies. During a crisis, it’s all hands on deck. Outsourced service providers may lack sufficient staff to dedicate to your institution’s needs, meaning your existing team members will have to step in.
Consider training existing personnel to handle these critical tasks effectively.
Additionally, tightening your technical resources are essential. Ensure your monitoring tools are equipped to provide timely alerts of critical events and make it a point to regularly review and refine your recovery processes to minimize downtime and remain resilient in the face of security challenges.
Appropriate Business Continuity
Business continuity plans (BCPs) are crucial for maintaining compliance and ensuring resilience.
First and foremost, understanding and meeting compliance requirements is essential. Financial institutions are not only required to have BCPs in place, but are also expected to conduct documented plan (tabletop) exercises, mock drills, and regular updates based on lessons learned.
Additionally, effective risk management should be a key component of your strategy. Business Impact Analyses (BIAs) help pinpoint vulnerabilities and minimize risk. Integrating BIA results into your overall strategy and risk assessments can enhance your visibility and ensure operational resilience.
Incident Response and Communication Plans
When it comes to incident response and communication, timely action is crucial.
Having clear procedures in place for detecting and reporting incidents within the legal and regulatory time frames will ensure relevant individuals, entities, and authorities are notified with ample time. It’s also important to define specific roles and responsibilities during incidents. Clear, effective communication is essential for coordinating responses and managing crises efficiently.
The Human Element and Security Awareness
The Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) highlights the significant human factor in data breaches.
Notably, over 68% of breaches globally are attributed to non-malicious human actions and errors, highlighting the need for focused training and awareness programs. Additionally, social engineering remains a major threat, accounting for 25% of breaches.
To combat these risks effectively, regular security awareness training is essential to mitigate the impact of human errors and social engineering attacks while strengthening your overall security posture.
Zero-Day Vulnerabilities
Zero-day vulnerabilities continue to pose a persistent threat, making swift action imperative.
On average, organizations take 55 days to remediate 50% of critical vulnerabilities; yet mass explotations can be detected in just five days – making the urgency of patching vulnerabilities quickly critical to staying ahead of potential threats. Furthermore, understanding and managing supply chain risks is vital, as interconnected supply chains can contribute to zero-day exploitation.
Learn, Adapt, and Strengthen Your Security Strategy
Information Security is an ever-evolving field.
As cyber threats evolve, you must adapt and prioritize security awareness, robust incident response, and effective business continuity while keeping in mind that securing the human element is just as crucial as safeguarding your systems and networks.
Stay vigilant, stay informed, and protect your financial institution and your accountholders with proactive measures to significantly reduce the impact of breaches and outages.
Learn more about effectively addressing your cyber risks with GRC solutions from Jack Henry™.
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