Financial Institutions: Natural Disasters, Malware & Privacy Issues

Financial institutions benefit from backup solutions and disaster recovery for many reasons. In the last few years a steady rise in threats as well as stricter privacy restrictions have made it challenging for these organizations to protect data and continue thriving. With online banking as well as mobile apps gaining popularity with users, financial institutions are the potential targets of a variety of attacks.

Big target for data thieves

The financial sector is an area being hit incredibly hard by data breaches. Everything from ransomware to phishing emails have been thrown at these organizations in the hopes of achieving a big payday, and some of the attacks have been successful. In early 2016, the U.S. Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council warned the industry about the flood of new threats stemming from ransomware.

Hacker Leaks Customer Data After a United Arab Emirates Bank Fails to Pay Ransom

Many organizations end up paying the fine to gain back data access because they see no other alternative. However, backing up your data with systems like NovaBACKUP are the best answer to these threats. Since ransomware encrypts everything on a particular device, banks can simply wipe the hardware and restore it to working order using their backups. This prevents the business from having to pay anything to access its information.

Personal financial data is a big target for hackers.

Disaster can strike at anytime

Emergencies can come in many forms, it’s important for financial institutions to be ready for anything. In 2002, the Federal Reserve made a point to establish regulations in this sector in order for these organizations to recover quickly from a Sept. 11-type event.

Network World reported that this initiative stemmed from a widespread halt of Wall Street processes that came as a result of the Sept. 11 fallout. Wall Street was unable to get back online due to inadequate backup plans, which affected all of its interconnected systems. To make it worse, many other financial institutions that had been impacted had not tested their backup systems, leaving them in the dark as well.

Regulations regarding data storage, maintenance and security have been put in place since then to ensure that financial institutions protect their information and are able to get systems up faster in an emergency. Not only did the Federal Reserve suggest adding rules about testing backups industry wide, it also recommended a required two-hour recovery time. These rules alone serve as the basis for many other standards across sectors and have changed how banks handle their files. However, organizations cannot allow themselves to become relaxed in their efforts, and must maintain vigilance with their backup solutions as more threats emerge.

Banks are an essential part of everyday life, but if data is compromised it can affect a significant number of people. In order to protect this information, financial institutions should look into backup solutions. These systems not only can help companies bounce back from attacks, they can also minimize the effect of disasters and support business continuity.