While it has always been vital for entities handling financial information -- account identifiers, investment records, account balances, transaction fees, payment card information, credit reports, and the like -- to take appropriate privacy and data security precautions, never before has it been quite the pressing concern that it is today.
The rapid deployment of innovative new technologies and the widespread availability of Internet banking tools, mobile apps, and other online data sharing capabilities has escalated the vulnerabilities of those handling sensitive information dramatically. Meanwhile, privacy and data security issues are at the top of legislative and regulatory agendas at both the federal and state level; with penalties for non-compliance and data breaches on the increase. Regulated financial services companies such as banks, credit card providers, and other lenders, should already have strict controls in place. But many other types of businesses handle financial information without the benefit of industry-specific laws to guide them.
It’s hard enough for major corporations to mitigate the privacy risks they face, let alone small-to-medium sized companies with limited budgets. Nonetheless, there are basic steps that all companies, regardless of size and budget, should be taking to identify their unique privacy vulnerabilities, the appropriate controls to neutralize those exposures, and solutions to correct any specific deficiencies/weaknesses in the company’s administrative, technical and physical safeguards.
1. Understand Your Risks - The unprecedented quickness and ease with which data can be transferred from one party to another can be a boon for businesses. This enables companies to become far more efficient. However, there is a dark side to these new capabilities. Bad actors have become increasingly proficient at illegally accessing data, often sensitive in nature, such as financial information.
The trend toward outsourcing and placing data in the cloud has the potential to multiply the points at which data is vulnerable to theft.
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Source: cioupdate.com
By: Elise Dieterich and Ron Whitworth
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