THE FINANCE SECTOR CAN WORK REMOTELY AND SECURELY…AND HERE’S THE PROOF

Kieran O’Connor, UK Enterprise Lead from Jamf

 

For the financial industry, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to mitigate cyber risk purely because it’s systemic and warrants a global effort. Yet, the industry has been tasked with gaining a granular view to keep customers safe, remain compliant, and streamline the various security protocols in place – all while working with organisations that have various levels of cybersecurity maturity. It’s difficult for any one firm to understand how an attacker might move across their supply chain.

If that wasn’t all, as the pace of digital disruption accelerates and innovative new technologies reach the market, those in the sector are having to digitise their offerings and adapt to remain competitive. This involves equipping their staff with the latest technology for success.

The growing popularity of consumer-favoured devices in enterprise, such as Apple Macs, iPads and iPhones, has supported collaboration and innovation but it has also meant that financial services now require skilled expertise in device and app management to ensure those fragmented regulations can continued to be followed, wherever the employee may be.

 

The most desired target

According to the Boston Consulting Group, financial service firms experience up to 300 times as many cyberattacks per year, globally, compared to companies in other industries. As one of the main contributors to the UK economy, it’s no surprise that it’s the most attractive sector for cybercriminals looking for financial gain or malicious intent.

The recent pandemic, instigated a shift in the way financial organisations needed to move to a remote working strategy – further exposing them to both generic and targeted attacks. In fact, it’s been reported that UK businesses have seen remote working increase by up to 80% and of those surveyed, almost a third (32%) said they had suffered a cyberattack in the past 12 months as a direct result of an employee working remotely and being outside of the organisation’s security perimeter.

In order for financial organisation to progress and keep up with customer demand, there needs to be stronger solutions that balance security with productivity – how else can companies protect their business and customers, grow and remain innovative, all while working remotely?

 

Skip the tradition

Consumers are demanding convenience through digital services and remaining innovative with the ability to adapt quickly, using smart devices, has come to the forefront.

One such firm that understood how to leverage consumer devices for innovation, while remaining compliant is Curve – a payment card provider that aggregates multiple payment cards through its accompanying mobile app.

Having tripled in size in under a year – going from 90 to 280 employees – the company needed to on-board staff quickly and securely. Knowing that this could often be where security protocols could become lax, they enlisted the support of an Apple-specific, enterprise mobile device management provider.

Tasks such as managing the roll out of devices, software, patch updates and even regular password resets – all of which provide opportunities for cyber criminals to access data through the back door – had become a concern since the recruitment process was moving so quickly.

The company needed to keep stringent security protocols in place to protect confidential customer data and financial information or risk breaking regulations such as GDPR or PCI DSS, which could lead to heavy fines and court cases.

By seeking the support of a third-party solution provider that specialised in Apple mobile device and app management, Curve could achieve zero day deployment and OS updates across every device so no one was left with old software that could potentially cause a threat to security Advanced inventory functions such as Smart Groups, quickly identified unused or missing devices which would need renewing.

While Apple products are similar to use by nature, employees were empowered set up their devices and reset passwords – helping them to become more educated on how cyber threats can take place while fixing common issues. This enabled Curve’s IT team to deploy compliance and patch updates via a single dashboard to ensure everyone stayed secure.

This resulted in Curve being able to continue its growth journey without damaging the employee experience or putting security on the line. The company made adaptations to their current technology capabilities for both employees and customers, which made the journey much smoother. They can now focus on other company targets like re-launching their self-service portal with automated patch roll outs which will also improve the user experience tremendously.

The financial industry may have been reluctant to work remotely, but since the pandemic acted as a catalysts to remove company walls, many have realised it can be possible and beneficial.  Selecting device and app management support that understands the plethora of red tape they need to abide by, as well as the devices employees use most, will provide the risk management assurance they need to succeed.

 

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