{"id":16359,"date":"2021-08-19T20:55:19","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T15:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cigniti.com\/blog\/?p=16359"},"modified":"2021-08-23T19:25:32","modified_gmt":"2021-08-23T13:55:32","slug":"bfs-vulnerability-assessment-security-penetration-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cigniti.com\/blog\/bfs-vulnerability-assessment-security-penetration-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do Banking & Financial Services need Security & Penetration Testing today"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a rapidly digitizing world, thanks to COVID, cybersecurity has become a key focus of\u00a0CxOs. Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI) organizations,\u00a0which handle sensitive financial and personal information of users and employees, are constantly threatened by cybercriminals.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Forbes, an analysis in 2015 found that cybercriminals targeted financial organizations four times more than other industries. In 2019, the same survey found that financial firms experienced 300 times more\u00a0cyber-attacks\u00a0than other organizations.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So,\u00a0banks and\u00a0financial institutions are big targets for cyber-attacks.\u00a0How can these organizations prepare themselves against these potential cyber threats?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The answer to that is to perform periodic and thorough Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is\u00a0Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing\u00a0(VAPT)? Why is it needed for BFSI organizations?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

VAPT comprises a wide array of security assessments to help address cybersecurity risks across an organization’s information technology landscape. These tests include automated vulnerability tests and human-led penetration testing or ethical hacking tests.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

BFSI organizations handle highly sensitive financial data of individuals, governments,\u00a0and\u00a0public and private corporations. Those data are bank account numbers, credit card numbers,\u00a0national identification numbers, addresses etc.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Data breaches in such institutions can lead to financial losses, regulatory penalties, and loss of reputation for the organizations. So, most of these organizations have invested heavily in cybersecurity infrastructure to ensure that their systems, applications, and databases are safe from cyber threats.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even before COVID, digitization was a significant trend in the BFSI industry. Apart from the existing firms going digital, digital-only financial institutions have come up in the BFSI industry landscape.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This heavy digital presence in this industry has made these organizations even more vulnerable to cyberattacks. The plethora of access mechanisms like\u00a0the\u00a0web, mobile and wireless technologies have exponentially increased financial institutions’ points of vulnerability.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to their internal systems,\u00a0banks also have secondhand exposures resulting from credit\/payments card information being handled by organizations in other industries,\u00a0like retail, hospitality, e-commerce website,\u00a0etc.,\u00a0or\u00a0by\u00a0outsourced IT service vendors who manage their systems remotely.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All these exposures have made VAPT a primary need for the survival of BFSI organizations.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to all the above, VAPT is an organizational imperative to protect against cyber threats and a compliance requirement in today’s world.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0European GDPR, ISO 27001, Gramm Leach Bliley act of\u00a0the\u00a0USA, California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and similar data protection acts across the globe\u00a0have\u00a0necessitated VAPT testing for information security.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Financial services<\/span><\/a>\u00a0organizations are at the top of the regulatory focus for data protection as they handle highly sensitive nonpublic personal information (NPI).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are the different\u00a0types\u00a0of threats that financial services organizations face today?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The different modes of threats that financial services organizations face today are as follows.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1. Unencrypted data<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n