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Cybercriminals are largely equal opportunity attackers when it comes to targeting victims. Organizations of every size and spanning numerous industries have fallen prey to hackers and data thieves. Despite cybercriminals' willingness to launch an attack against just about anyone, however, financial services businesses remain distinctly popular targets. The amount of money being handled, stored and transferred by these organizations is too enticing for hackers to pass up. The promise of a major payday will continue to put financial institutions in the cross-hairs of cybercriminals.

As recently noted in bobsguide, the increasingly digitalized landscape of the financial services industry has only further exacerbated this issue. Today's banks, credit unions and other financial institutions rely far more heavily on digitally transmitted information and records. Anytime a transaction is completed over an organization's network, the utilized information is vulnerable to breach. According to a January 2014 study conducted by European Union cybersecurity agency ENISA, many cybersecurity flaws remain in this sector, particularly regarding authentication systems. ENISA officials urged financial institutions to implement stronger security solutions to prevent cybercriminals from accessing sensitive information. 

If these organizations are looking for assistance from the federal government, they may not find it. Bloomberg BNA reported that some lawmakers believe it would take a major data breach for Congress to step in and pass legislation authorizing greater security assistance for U.S.-based companies. Sen. Evan Bayh stated at the recent American Bar Association Section of International Law 2014 Spring Meeting that a much larger scale attack than anything that has been previously witnessed would be needed to move Congress to action. According to the senator, even ongoing attacks against the nation's financial institutions have not been enough to galvanize lawmakers.

Without the support of the federal government, banks and other members of the financial services industry must take it upon themselves to secure they sensitive data. A major component of any robust cybersecurity plan is encryption. Officials must be certain that they encrypt all sensitive data while it is both at rest and in transit. For the latter, financial institutions should utilize SSL certificates which encrypt data transactions while they are traveling across the organization's network. This technology will make it far more difficult for hackers to view the sensitive contents of financial transmissions even if they are intercepted.

Protect in-transit data with an SSL certificate today.

corporate office

Thawte
The Gateway
Century Lane
Century City, 7441
Cape Town
South Africa

Postal Address:
P O Box 15986
Panorama 7500
Cape Town
South Africa

Call: +353 1 793 9141
Fax: +27 21 819 2950