With financial institutions holding a treasure trove of sensitive information, it’s no secret that they are actively targeted by cyber attackers.
To help these firms stay up to date with the latest security threats, Neal O’Farrell, founder of The Identity Theft Council, created a list of the top cybersecurity threats facing financial institutions:
- Your Own Employees
Untrained employees are often quickly exploited by hackers. Leaving passwords easily accessible, staying logged into systems & clicking and downloading malware are very common mistakes that can allow hackers to infiltrate your systems
- Phishing Emails
As cybercriminals become increasingly smarter with their attacks, they’ve now focused on creating more targeted and realistic phishing emails to financial employees & executives. It’s vitally important that these employees really think before they click any questionable links, as this could give hackers access to credit card credentials and client data.
- Undetectable Malware
Hackers have now started testing out their malware with encrypting services to guarantee that antivirus software will not detect the malicious malware. Employees who experience pop-ups on their system saying your PC is not secure & need to download a security software need to rethink before they click. Check with the company IT department to make sure that what you’re clicking will not plague your IT environment.
- Cyberextortion & Data Ransom
There is currently three different types of data extortion. One being ransomware- hackers encrypt data then demand payment to unlock it. Second, data & security breaches- hackers demand funds to stay quiet about breaching your IT estate. And lastly, personal information extortion- hackers gain access to client data and demand payment to not publish it. To better protect your financial firms against these unfortunate incidents, regularly backing up your data separate from your PC and actively updating your security software are important steps in securing your IT environment.
- Third Party Attacks
Third Party Attacks occur when cybercriminals gain access to your organization's information by infiltrating third parties like retailers, web management providers, and payroll providers. Understanding the security protocols for these services you use and logging out of services you use through personal computers are a few ways to help prevent these incidents from happening.
- Mobile Attacks
With the ease of use of mobile phones & tablets, employees and clients alike often access firms’ data through these devices, and this should be taken into account when developing security policies and procedures.
If organizations want to maintain security and minimize the likelihood of a financial fallout from these cyber-attacks, they need to realize the likelihood of stopping all breaches is unlikely, but a preventative approach can be the best way to stop them. NNT Change Tracker Gen7 provides organizations with Non-stop, continuous visibility of what’s going on in your IT environment, allowing an organization to at least spot unusual change that represents a breach in real time and take action before any damage is done.
Learn more about NNT’s Change Tracker Gen7
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