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Data is the lifeblood of banking and financial services
organizations. Lenders, appraisers, real estate brokers, and
property preservation companies each have the responsibility of
protecting and securing financial data. Almost all data generated
or used by financial services firms is regulated. e responsibility
of managing account information, cardholder data and transactions, and non-
public personal information makes this industry, arguably, one of the largest
collectors of sensitive and privacy protected data.
e financial services industry continues
to invest in new technologies that allow for
efficient management of client information with
increasing oversight capabilities. However, a
concurrent effort to protect information from
attack is critical, as evidenced by recent data
breaches at high profile organizations including
hospital facilities, large retailers, and health care
insurers.
In today's world, most organizations,
regardless of size, will experience a security
incident in the form of social engineering, a data
breach, or malware. Social engineering attacks
will continue to be the easiest way for cyber
criminals to compromise corporate networks.
e advanced technology and systems used to
protect networks makes the front door approach
less appetizing to would be attackers. With social
I N D U S T R Y I N S I G H T / M I C H A E L O ' C O N N O R
STAYING AHEAD OF
THE THREAT
Why Security Awareness is
Vital to Your Organization
