As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, there is no higher priority for organizations and establishments than cybersecurity. And in the fintech space, cybersecurity is at the heart of all enterprise-wide operations. With more than half of consumers around the world using at least one fintech app or service, it’s safe to assume that fintech companies would apply tried and tested security strategies that protect customer and business data against malicious actors.
That said, organizations would do well to apply these techniques to ensure the utmost protection of valuable assets and data in the digital space. Even cash loan app services follow basic cybersecurity processes to keep their customers safe, and these methods are inherently tied to the basic principles that fintech apps abide by.
Whatever your industry is, there are a lot of lessons to be learned on cybersecurity from fintech apps. This article will discuss some of them, and hopefully, help you further your cybersecurity posture and strengthen your brand.
Practice Regular Monitoring and System Updates
Monitoring your cyber infrastructure regularly is a great way to sustain oversight and ensure that everything is in working order, including your cybersecurity defenses. Staying up to date on your systems aids in early detection, helping you fix bugs and other vulnerabilities before bad actors exploit them. When it comes to system updates, it may be ideal to have them installed automatically to reduce the hassles and ensure that systems are patched without disrupting everyday operations.
Focus on Compliance From the Get-Go
Fintechs abide by a whole host of guidelines that regulatory bodies enforce to uphold data security and privacy. Because these standards are widely recognized across countries and industry players, failure to comply would result in hefty fines, vulnerable security fortifications, and a tarnished industry reputation. As such, your team must tailor all cybersecurity efforts around stringent regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
In addition to international standards, your IT team must also consider regional legislations that may have restrictions on data collection and processing. When incorporating solutions in your digital infrastructure, make sure that your team abides by security guidelines in your area, country, or geographical region.
Perform Regular Testing
In general, system testing allows IT teams to determine the limits of your infrastructure and set priorities for developments and updates. As in most industries, fintech services conduct regular testing by simulating breach scenarios. Essentially, this helps IT teams identify potential vulnerabilities, evaluate compliance issues, and improve code to become more attack-resistant.
If you intend to do regular system testing, you need to build a team of testers that includes engineers, developers, and other cybersecurity professionals. These in-house or outsourced experts will conduct regular penetration testing as part of security audits, which will then help you identify effective security strategies and uncover exploitable vulnerabilities.
Explore Emerging Technologies and Techniques
The fintech space is always at the forefront of exploring new techniques and technologies to strengthen the detection and management of cybersecurity threats. One such technique is data encryption, which involves algorithms that make data harder to decipher through unauthorized means. Aside from encryption, you can explore the use of tokenization, which uses generated numbers or “tokens” to encrypt sensitive data.
In addition to encrypting data, you may also want to explore techniques for access control and data verification. Consider applying role-based access control (RBAC) techniques, which limit network access based on organizational positions. Another popular verification technique is multi-factor authentication (MFA), which requires users to undergo more than one process of identity verification before accessing data and networks.
Other methods and technologies used by fintech services that may be useful for your organization are artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, blockchain technology, and private cloud architectures.
Minimize Complexity in Your Systems
Most of the time, a too-complex infrastructure is difficult to manage by an IT team and leads to system vulnerabilities. With this, it’s best to keep your systems as streamlined as possible to prevent further cybersecurity issues. Make sure to focus on core functionalities and eliminate unnecessary add-ons that would only result in lags, lack of oversight, and demanding system fixes. One way to reduce complexity is by minimizing in-house technologies and incorporating third-party services such as cloud infrastructure.
Continually Promote Cyber-Awareness to Your Team
In essence, boosting your overall cybersecurity posture is a team effort. If a teammate accidentally clicks a suspicious link, there’s a huge possibility that this mindless act will snowball into a devastating system breach. To prevent such occurrences, it would be best to invest in cybersecurity training for all your staff across the enterprise. At best, regular training sessions will instill good cyber hygiene practices such as recognizing phishing scams, using strong login credentials, and avoiding the use of public wifi for work.
Lessons Learned from the Fintech Space
At this point, cybersecurity should be a no-brainer for any entity handling valuable customer and organizational data. Simply put, this means interweaving the basics of cybersecurity into your enterprise’s DNA. Fintech services face cybersecurity threats daily, and the efficient ones have applied techniques and technologies to keep these risks at bay. The truth is, cyberattacks will only get more complex and intuitive as technology progresses. What matters is you know how to apply the lessons that fintech services have learned to stay one step ahead of cyber adversaries.
