Security Resilience
Whether it concerns banks, insurers or pension providers, customers need to trust financial services organisations to manage their financial and personal data in a safe manner. This data is highly interesting to threat actors to gain access to. Sound cybersecurity measures are key to protecting financial services organisations against changing and evolving threats, such as phishing, Business Email Compromise and ransomware attacks.
Trend Micro research shows that nearly three-quarters (72%) of firms have been compromised by ransomware at least once over the past three years and that the financial services sector is targeted more often.
Key cybersecurity challenges for financial services organisations
The attack surface is growing out of control
As organisations embrace the cloud, their digital attack surface expands, demanding enhanced management to counter a rising number of threats. The challenge lies in identifying and securing all cyber assets amid the expanding target, hindering effective risk assessment and communication. Continuous risk evaluation becomes imperative for strategic planning, providing actionable insights to fortify defenses and prevent breaches. To break free from a reactive stance, proactive cyber risk discovery and mitigation are essential in the face of a sprawling attack surface.
Vulnerability and patch management
The finance & insurance industry finds itself contending with the ceaseless evolution of vulnerabilities and are at risk from zero-day attacks that can exploit undiscovered software vulnerabilities. These threats are particularly dangerous as cybercriminals can strike before patches are developed. Managing technical debt is critical as one tiny vulnerability can bring down an entire system. Not only identifying and addressing these weaknesses in a timely manner, but also prioritising them in terms of risk is crucial to avoid potential exploits. Efficient patch management is the frontline defense, necessitating a proactive approach to keep systems fortified against emerging threats. Failure in this regard not only exposes sensitive financial data but also jeopardises the trust clients place in institutions to safeguard their assets. Security risk management comes with identifying and consolidating your assets and attack vectors, as well as automatically assessing, prioritising, and mitigating the risks associated with your attack surface.
Legacy and End-of-Life Systems
The financial sector often grapples with the challenges posed by legacy and (nearly) End-Of-Life systems that have become the backbone of operations over the years. These aging infrastructures, while reliable, present a formidable cybersecurity risk. Their inability to seamlessly integrate with modern security measures creates vulnerabilities that malicious actors are quick to exploit. The digital transformation challenge lies in fortifying these legacy systems and (nearly) End-Of-Life systems against contemporary threats while strategically modernising these systems to meet the demands of an ever-evolving digital landscape and enhance the customer experience. In addition to the hindrance posed by legacy systems that may impede cloud migrations, it can not be avoided that certain legacy systems must remain operational due to regulatory requirements. Organisations have to implement additional measures to safeguard these systems. Our virtual patching functionality helps you to mitigate risks when your systems go End-of-Life.
Regulatory Compliance (NIS2)
Compliance with regulations such as the GDPR, HIPAA, PSD2, NIS2 directive and DORA is non-negotiable. Financial services organisations must not only safeguard customer data but also adhere to stringent data protection laws. An updated version of the NIS directive will be implemented starting in 2025. NIS2 broadens its scope to encompass critical sectors integral to societal functioning, including financial services that play a pivotal role in economic stability. This will have a huge impact on the finance & insurance industry, as the security regulations will touch all critical services. Besides, the Digital Operations Resilience Act (DORA) has been in force since January 2023, with the objective of enhancing the management of IT risks by financial organisations and increasing their resilience to cyber threats. It seeks to address the growing gap between the escalation of IT threats and the improvement of resilience, serving as a supplementary measure to existing legislation such as NIS2 and GDPR.
Our easy-to-use security solutions can help you build a more risk-aware, risk-resilient and compliant organisation and protect it from costly reputational damage.
Cloud Migration and Cloud Security
The allure of cloud computing for financial services organisations is undeniable, offering scalability and flexibility. However, the migration to the cloud introduces a fresh set of security challenges. For example, the Dutch National Bank mandates regulations that require thorough bidirectional inspection of all sensitive (PII) documents shared with partners. This poses a challenge for organisations to implement this process in a cloud-native manner, aiming to avoid creating bottlenecks in the cloud. Ensuring the security of sensitive financial data in a virtual environment demands a strategic and meticulous approach. From data encryption to access controls, financial services organisations must deploy a multi-faceted security strategy. The shared responsibility model in cloud services necessitates collaboration between the institution and the cloud service provider. Financial services organisations need to be vigilant, ensuring that their migration to the cloud is realised without compromising security.
Additional resources
Santa Lucia Chooses Trend Micro to Answer the Challenges of Real-Time Modern Security
Santalucía Group, a prominent insurance holding company in Spain and Latin America, opted for Trend Micro's cybersecurity solutions to address the growing challenges of data protection and cybersecurity in an increasingly digitised environment. The implementation of Trend Micro's solutions, driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning, enhances incident detection, response capabilities, and provides continuous visibility and control across all infrastructure layers. The integration of virtual patches and sandbox technologies reduces vulnerability windows, ensuring robust protection against potential cyber threats. This comprehensive security ecosystem allows Santalucía to navigate operational challenges securely and adhere to legal frameworks, marking a successful collaboration
Why Trend Micro as a partner for financial services organisations?
Experience
Trend works with many large financial services organisations and helps them overcome their cybersecurity challenges and preparing them for the latest and most advanced attacks.
Full portfolio
Solutions can be combined or used as standalone services, allowing you to build according to budget, time and needs.
Global leader
Our Zero Day initiative puts us in the first line of detection, with 66% of all vulnerabilities disclosed by Trend Micro.
Read our blog looking back at the ZDI activities from 2023.
Discover our solutions
Trend Vision One
Simplify security operations with purpose-built extended detection and response (XDR), attack surface management capabilities, and dynamic zero-trust tools. Our solution not only collects security information from the entire IT environment, but also automatically correlates and prepares it to produce actionable alerts.
Trend Cloud One
Secure your data center, cloud, and containers without compromising performance or security with a cloud security platform with CNAPP capabilities
Trend™ TippingPoint™ Threat Protection System
With TippingPoint Threat Protection go beyond next-gen IPS without compromising security or performance. TippingPoint provides immediate and ongoing threat protection with out-of-the-box recommended settings.
Deep Discovery Inspector
Trend Micro™ Deep Discovery™ Inspector is designed to quickly detect advanced malware that typically bypasses traditional security defenses and exfiltrates sensitive data. By providing a 360 degrees of visibility by monitoring all network ports and over 105 different protocols, it helps you to detect lateral movement of known, unknown and undisclosed threats.
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