From June\u201918 to March\u201922, Indian banks recorded about 248 data breaches by cyber criminals and hackers. And this number is increasing every day, which means there is a major loophole in the security infrastructure of the banking industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is probably because the banking security network is not as advanced as today\u2019s sophisticated cyber criminals. The BFSI sector still works on traditional security models, where insider threats are not even given a thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s high time for the banking sector to consider adopting modern security approaches like the Zero Trust Security Model. In this model, every user, despite their location, device, or privilege is verified equally, and not trusted implicitly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s understand what all security challenges the zero trust security model addresses, especially for the banking sector. Further, we will also discuss some of the best practices that would come in handy to you when adopting the Zero Trust Security Model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) industry operates with some of the most sensitive information that includes credit card details, transactional information, consumer details, and what not. In fact, the number of digital payments has increase to 72 Billion in India in the last financial year 2022. At the same time, the related security risks have also increased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The increasing digital use of banking services has made banks a constant target for hackers who are trying to get into the network. As a result, IT teams at BFSI organizations are more concerned about security than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s understand the major security challenges faced by BFSI industry:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even banks\u2019 dependency on remote and hybrid workforces has increased in the past years. This has made them more vulnerable to cyber threats than ever before. Employees can now access data and the network from anywhere on their systems; they are no longer just limited to the organization\u2019s network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the increasing use of cloud-based software and data storage in the cloud, the network has become more vulnerable to cyberattacks. In fact, according to a report by IBM, about 45% of breaches happen in the cloud, which costs up to USD 3.80 million. So, now banks have to be more careful about securely configuring their cloud infrastructure and protecting themselves from harmful breaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along with outside threats, banks can also be a target of insider threats. These may come from their employees and devices. For instance, the employees\u2019 password can be compromised intentionally or unintentionally, as a result the access can go into the hands of an unauthorized user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is more likely to happen if your bank\u2019s current security check only uses one authentication method like a password for critical resources, then you are under the threat of data getting compromised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite facing numerous security challenges, banks are working on the \u2018castle-and-moat’ approach, aka, \u2018perimeter security\u2019. This approach for the network security model states that no one outside of the organization\u2019s network should be able to access the business data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, everyone from inside the organization is assumed to be safe and has complete access to the data. In this approach, the user identity is only verified at the entry and exit of the network, and it is assumed that all the activity happening between the entry and exit is completely safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, when it comes to safeguarding digital assets in today\u2019s banking modern architecture, the traditional security approach has limitations. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These limitations make the customer data stored in the bank\u2019s database more fragile. Here\u2019s when they need a new and modern security model, Zero Trust Security Model, to protect their sensitive information related to customers and transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Zero Trust Security architecture, every access request is treated as unknown, irrespective of whether it is generated from inside or outside of the organization. The request is continuously authenticated to verify a user through all possible attributes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These include user identity, geolocation, version of the operating system, applications installed on the endpoint, behavioral patterns, type of credential (human or programmatic), etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, it has become critical for banks to become more proactive when it comes to security and switch to the Zero Trust Security formula of \u2018Never Trust, Always Verify’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s understand what some of the best practices are that you must consider while adopting the Zero Trust Security Model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first thing you must consider while adopting the Zero Trust Security Model should be your business objective. The Zero Trust model can help you secure the entire bank\u2019s network; while targeting specific risks and resolve them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For instance, if your bank has recently encountered any instances of cyberattacks or data breaches in any area, you should target that area first. This will start your patching up process in the areas that need instant attention and improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Irrespective of what your credential type is, human or programmatic, always verify the user access request. This also includes authenticating the users inside your organization along with the external ones. Moreover, authentication should not only be done once through passwords, as they are some of the weakest links and can be easily cracked and compromised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rather banks and other financial institutions must consider adding confirmation factors to authenticate the user. This will make it harder for any cybercriminal to bypass the security procedure. In fact, multi-factor authentication should be implemented regardless of any user\u2019s privileged access. Also, banks can further add more security layers for specific network locations or data types.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Network segmentation means splitting your bank\u2019s network into a few smaller units. Segmenting your entire attack surface helps in securing your data in case your defense mechanism fails or the attacker has entered your perimeter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the most effective ways of network segmentation includes creating a microcosm for different teams in your bank that will offer them only limited resources. The purpose of doing so is to provide bank employees only with the essential information that they need to perform their job. This successfully helps brands in preventing overexposure to data and avoid insider threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While working with sensitive data like financial information, only selective and trusted accounts are given privileged access. However, in the current banking network infrastructure, a single password is enough to access the entire network and data used by the bank to provide customer service. This is one major vulnerability that can be controlled by implementing Zero Trust\u2019s granular policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The policy dictates that banking and other financial service businesses should only grant privileged access on \u2018as and when required\u2019 basis. Following the least privilege access policy will help in minimizing large-scale data breaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Banks have hundreds of logins from different users, locations, and even devices. This makes banks\u2019 networks more vulnerable to cyberattacks, thus making it imperative for them to know from where the traffic is entering their network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For this, banks must use centralized network monitoring that will offer them a holistic view of their network from a single dashboard. Here, the traffic can be easily analyzed as per the bank\u2019s security policies. Further, this will ensure that you don\u2019t miss any malicious activity or notice it too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Containing the most sensitive information, the BFSI sector should be at the top when it comes to implementing advanced security models like Zero Trust Security. This will prevent cyber-attacks and data breaches from making any significant damage. Moreover, its mantra of verifying and authenticating every user brings everyone to the same page, where all users are assumed unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zero Trust Related Articles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n From June\u201918 to March\u201922, Indian banks recorded about 248 data breaches by cyber criminals and hackers. And this number is increasing every day, which means there is a major loophole in the security infrastructure of the banking industry. This is probably because the banking security network is not as advanced as today\u2019s sophisticated cyber criminals. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,42],"tags":[153,149],"class_list":["post-582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security-software","category-network-security-solution","tag-bfsi","tag-zero-trust-security"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n