When it comes to protecting systems from cyberattacks, banks have invested heavily in applications to prevent any of their data to be compromised.
So how come we still see these breaches occur?
It is plain and simple; sooner or later any payments processor or financial institution will be subject to cyberattacks. But how ready is your organization to deal with this? Does investing in hardware or software solutions provide you with the magic bullet to deal with this? No matter how sophisticated your security, nothing is perfect. One day you will be breached, Therefore it is crucial to understand that you need to design your internal network with this inevitability in mind. You need to ensure that the data entrusted to your organization does not become the source of yet another round of sensational headlines and lawsuits.
Cyberattacks are only one part of the equation and as an organization, any payments processor needs to put the right measures in place to reduce the risk posed by cyber threats.
These preventive measures are reaching far beyond just implementing the right software or hardware solutions, and range from making sure a proper disaster recovery plan is in place and be ready to deal with cyber threats as they occur. There is a continuous need to train staff on these procedures, create and enforce the right security policies by making use of strong passwords or even consider alternative, strong authentication methods such as two factor authentication, key fobs or biometrics. As an organization, you have a responsibility to manage access rights for all staff closely and prevent data from being stolen by disabling USB ports – because often, the threat comes from within.
Data breaches will occur sooner or later and any financial institution needs to have a system in place to thwart the attack or misuse of this data. It is crucial to have the right fraud detection tools in place to accommodate this requirement and that is precisely where BPC Banking Technologies SmartVista solution focus on, catching the fraudsters red handed.
Cybersecurity and fraud prevention cannot be considered the responsibility of a single stakeholder in the payments value chain. It should be a joint effort between financial institutions, service providers and government sectors. In a world where the number of IoT (internet of things) devices and digitally connected appliances is growing exponentially, it becomes even more important to secure the exchanges of sensitive data successfully and effectively. It is apparent that the fight against cyber-attacks can only be successful if public, private and government sectors actively collaborate on preventing data compromise and reducing fraud. We can and must take steps to work together to achieve this goal and protect our way of life in a digital age.
