Recognising users needs and securing them

A survey of over 500 financial services IT professionals across six countries in North America and Europe revealed that IT has little confidence in users keeping data safe.

Tuesday, 16th July 2019 Posted 5 years ago in by Phil Alsop

More than ever, it's time to recognize user needs and secure them, otherwise users will find and employ workarounds if their needs are not being met. There’s a false dichotomy at play between security and productivity that is directly contributing to lost productivity and unsafe behavior by users leading to risk of data leakage – when in reality financial organizations don’t need to sacrifice productivity for security (or vice versa).

Here is a sampling of some of the findings from the Financial Services IT infographic:

Users Will Find and Employ Workarounds If Their Needs Are Not Being Met

▪ 94% of financial services IT professionals surveyed are not fully confident in the ability of their employees, consultants and partners to adequately safeguard data.

▪ 59% of financial services IT professionals surveyed feel their employees must work around corporate IT policies to get their jobs done.

Security Concerns Having an Impact on Deployment of Apps

▪ 80% are limiting in some way the deployment of applications as a direct result of security.

Insecure File Sharing is of Particular Concern

Using freely available file sharing repositories is of critical concern. As these repositories do not secure the file, once the file leaves the organization it is untraceable and can be shared with anyone, in any location. This is particularly notable for GDPR as untracked files shared outside of organizational control can lead to customer information being exposed.

Most financial services institutions report they have experienced a breach due to gaps in securing and sharing business files. Consequences identified by IT professionals include:

▪ 74% Lost productivity

▪ 70% Penalties for compliance failure

▪ 31% Exposing sensitive data to the competition

Close to 50% do not have an IoT strategy in place

With increased connectivity comes increased productivity and increased risk. Today, networks are vast – with varied access points like ATM terminals, apps, kiosks, tablets, websites and traditional terminals. As threats to data become increasingly sophisticated, leaders in the financial services industry must have an IoT strategy in place that balances security and regulatory requirements with productivity.