Every business is using the internet for expanding its services. Due to this, more and more hackers are attacking these organizations. Hackers are always looking for new ways of breaking into organization systems. In 2013, more than 3 billion Yahoo accounts were hacked. Data breaches have affected more than 1 trillion users in the past decade. According to the experts, these numbers are only going to rise with time.

Data breaches are much more sensitive in the financial service industry. According to Verizon Enterprise, the financial service industry is the most breached industry. More than 35% of all breaches happen in financial services. Financial organizations store very sensitive data. Thus, it is very important to protect your data from hackers. In this article, we are going to talk about top cybersecurity threats to the financial service industry.

Identity and Credential theft

According to various reports, social engineering is the most common hacking attack. Hackers usually target employee, customer or third-party credentials. They can use this information for creating fake profiles.

Hackers can use these details for opening fake accounts that they can control. They will set high credit limits in their accounts. Attackers can also bypass most of the account alerts. This allows them to do transactions without getting dedicated.

Attackers can also steal the credentials of network admin. This will allow them to gain access to your network or system. Thus, they can distribute viruses and malware in your enterprise systems. They can use this malware for committing fraud. Attackers are attacking multiple organizations by using social engineering. This will result in a multiparty compromise.

You can protect your organization by educating your employees. Make sure that they are not clicking on any phishing links. Also, make sure that they are not downloading any pirated software in their systems. This will make sure that their credentials are protected.

DDoS Attacks

DDoS or distributed denial of service is another very common attack. These attacks can slow down your enterprise website. Thus, your customers won’t be able to access your website. Most of the hackers use these types of attacks for attacking websites that they don’t like. Sometimes your competitor can also use this tactic for disrupting your business. These attacks are very inexpensive. You can launch a DDoS attack for only $150/week. More than 1/3 of network downtime happens due to DDoS attacks. These attacks can damage the reputation of your business.

There are many DDoS protection services available in the market that you can use. You can use third-party services like Cloudflare for protecting your network. Many enterprises are also using RTBH or remotely triggered black hole for protecting their network from DDoS traffic. You can also use a routing methodology for protecting your network. There are various other methods like identifying malicious URLs and reputation-based blocking for protecting your network. These methods will help you in protecting your network.

Supply-Chain and Backdoor attacks

Backdoor are applications that are used for obtaining remote access to any network. Hackers can use a backdoor for gaining access to your whole network. These attacks can bypass any detection systems. There are various different types of backdoor attacks like DNS lookup, port binding, and legitimate platform abuse. A financial institute recently found a ShadowPad in their network. This backdoor gave access to hundreds of users to these hackers.

The best way to deal with this attack is by monitoring and auditing your network. If your IT department is regularly monitoring your network, then they can easily find the backdoor. You can also use firewalls for protecting your network. But, they can’t stop a legitimate request from accessing your network. There are various third-party providers that will monitor and manage your servers. This will make sure that professionals are monitoring your network 24/7.

New Technology

Technology is changing rapidly with time. These technologies are also very important for organizations. It will help you in getting a competitive edge over your competitors. Most of the finance institutions are already working on Internet of Things (IoT) devices and blockchain. But, these technologies can increase security risk. Hackers are already finding various ways to hack IoT attacks. All these devices are connected with your enterprise network. Hence, hackers can use these devices for hacking into your network.

Various regulations are trying to protect the financial institute. You have to make sure that you are using multi-factor authentication in your network. This will help you in protecting your network. You can also protect your IoT devices by patching all the vulnerabilities. Make sure that install all the security patches. This will protect your network from already known vulnerabilities.

Insider threats

More than 55% of data breaches occur due to internal sources. Your employees can try to smuggle your sensitive data. They can even use this data for their own benefits. If you are using 2-step verification, then this is not going to affect your organization. But, it will definitely affect the reputation of your company.

You need to check the faithfulness of employees. Also, you should encrypt your enterprise sensitive data. This will protect your data from attacks. Sometimes these attacks can also occur due to human error. Your employees can download malware in their systems. They can also click on phishing links. It is important to educate your employees. Make sure that your employees know about basic security practices.

Conclusion

These are the most difficult cybersecurity challenges that financial companies are facing. You can’t avoid some things like upgrading your technology. But, it is important to improve the security of your network. You can hire security professionals who can help you in improving your network security. There are also many organizations that will help you in dealing with these security challenges. If you want to know more about how to protect yourself from security attacks, then you contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™ services and solutions in how we can help your business.