A data breach in banks can be very dangerous. It can potentially affection the company and millions of people that are with the bank. What should they do to avoid this?
Data Breach in Banks
Banks today have undergone and are still ongoing digital transformation. Meaning, they use computers to store and process data rather than using traditional methods. This has given them the advantage of more speed, accuracy, and security.
However, despite the many advantages that digital transformation has given, there is also a disadvantage. This disadvantage comes in the form of data breaches.
Data breaches are adverse event that usually has bad effects on any organization. It can destroy customer trust, lead to financial loss, and more. However, banks are prone to more data breaches due to their heavy use of information technology (IT).
There are several reasons for this, including the:
- a large amount of data handled by banks which make them vulnerable to data breaches;
- nature of the industry (banking) which requires banks to hold several types of sensitive information;
- increased use of mobile devices;
- need for conducting transactions digitally;
- fact that banks are usually the first line of attack for cybercriminals;
- and others.
However, despite all these factors that increase the risk for cyberattacks on banks, it is still possible to prevent these threats from happening through proper planning and execution. And because prevention is better than cure, banks should have a proper plan in place against these threats from time to time. Even if they have been successful in preventing breaches from occurring. This way, they’ll be ready just in case cybercriminals do come their way.
How to Avoid a Data Breach in Banks
The following are some pointers on how banks can reduce the risk of a data breach:
- Train employees properly. It will help them be aware of threats and how they should react when a breach happens. This may not be enough though as employees may not take their training seriously or they may simply forget about what they’ve been taught during training. So, to address this issue, banks can consider doing regular refresher courses or additional training especially when new threats emerge from time to time.
- Use security solutions to protect their systems and data. It is also important for banks to continuously check the security solutions they have in place to ensure they are working properly.
- Data encryption. Data encryption can help protect sensitive information from being stolen by cybercriminals. Banks can use different types of encryption depending on the type of data they handle.
- Encrypt mobile devices. Encryption of mobile devices can also help prevent sensitive information from being stolen. Banks should have a policy on how employees are allowed to use mobile devices in their organization.
- Use strong passwords. Weak passwords are easy for cybercriminals to crack which means they can easily get access to the system or data that has been encrypted. Strong passwords should be used by banks to make it harder for cybercriminals to access them.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, the threat of data breaches in banks is real. However, there are ways to reduce the risk of data breaches. So, banks should consider using the pointers given above.
