How to Keep Banking Customers Safe from Cyberattacks

One of the best ways to build trust with your customers within the banking industry is to commit to keeping their data and assets safe. The banking industry and FinTech industry are one of the most attacked industries by hackers and cybercriminals. The cost of cyberattacks in the banking and FinTech industry is an average of 9.4 million per yearEight out of ten banking customers are also in fear that banks are not able to properly secure their personal information. The FBI has also said that the annual cost to banks who fall prey to phishing scams has increased to almost one billion dollars per year.

Most of these attacks come from three primary sources: ATMs, mobile applications, and web portals that the customers can log in to their personal accounts with. The number of potential targets has increased because the number of users for these three things has drastically risen over the past decade. These things also increase the number of entry points a hacker can use to access sensitive information. In response to this increase in cyber risks, banks must make sure that they have a comprehensive cybersecurity plan and response in place. Even the smallest of data breaches can cause a customer to lose trust in a bank. Cybersecurity Awareness Month has come to an end, but all businesses need to be vigilant so that they can protect their businesses and customers from cybersecurity threats going forward. Read on to lean more about how to keep banking customers safe from cyberattacks. 

Increase cybersecurity customer awareness at your bank. 

One key element of keeping banking customers safe from cyber-attacks is to make sure they have cybersecurity awareness. By giving customers the proper education, they will be able to better protect themselves which means the bank can be protected too. 

Even with simple education, customers can learn to recognize common attacks such as phishing attempts and malware attacks. They can also ask themselves questions to better help recognize and respond to cyber threats. These questions may include:

• What does banking fraud look like?
• What do they do if they find themselves a victim of a cyber-attack?
• What are the basic types of cyber-attacks that they may encounter?

how to keep banking customers safe from cyberattacks

Make sure your bank implements proactive cybersecurity internal measures to protect clients.

With the frequency of cyber-attacks against the financial industry, banks need to invest in the right technology and services that will assist in preventing cyber-attacks. Cyber-attacks will continue to emerge so measures must be put in place that will monitor threats, alert employees to suspicious behavior, and locate gaps in security practices. If your internal IT team does not have the time to monitor these threats, hiring a managed service provider like Tekscape is your next best bet. MSPs can manage your cybersecurity monitoring off site so you do not have to worry about it.

Keep your bank physically secure from cyberthreats in and out of the facility.

It is extremely important for every employee within a bank or financial firm to engage in practices that keep physical environments secure. There is a lot of sensitive data within a bank that can immensely hurt customers if it is breached. Using key card systems to prevent unauthorized access is extremely important but employees also need guidance on keeping that data safe while working remotely. 

All banking employees should use a virtual private network or VPN.

This will allow the user to connect to a network privately which reduces the likelihood of a data breach. Because cyber criminals are ever evolving in their ways, just using a VPN is not enough anymore. Employees should also use multi factor authentication that has a code that is generated by a token application such as Google Authenticator.

Bolster all cybersecurity practices related to financial transactions.

Employees should familiarize themselves with procedures for catching unusual activity on customer’s accounts. For example, many banks are implementing a process where a phone number on file must be called before any unusual transactions are completed. It is also wise to require multi person approvals for unusual transactions or major changes to a customer’s account. Setting these processes up really depends on your bank’s business model and capabilities.

how to keep banking customers safe from cyberattacks

What happens when banks do not keep customer data safe?

When a data breach at a bank does occur, the customers are the ones who are the most affected. They will often lose sensitive data, time, and money. Banks will have to try to recover the funds that were fraudulent and there is no guarantee that those funds will be able to be fully recovered. Customers also have to go through the process cancelling their bank cards, checking their banking statements, and will have to keep their eyes open for additional breaches.

Trust Tekscape to help keep your bank and banking customers safe with our managed security services.

We have proven results for financial services. We can help you learn how to keep banking customers safe from cyberattacks. Businesses are utilizing digital transformation to elevate their brand into the future through managed IT services. Our engineers address key challenges that surround financial services like meeting compliance. As a leader in cloud technology solutions, Tekscape connects businesses to cloud-based services to increase security, revenue, and efficiency.
We equip businesses with a strategy and foundation, helping provide the tools to gain actionable data through managed IT services, cybersecurity, digital transformation, and team collaboration. The financial services landscape is extremely competitive. The environment demands for safe, convenient, and intuitive digital experiences. Tekscape helps financial services meet these expectations so that clients are attaining their goals.

Tekscape is committed to providing proactive, responsive, and timely managed IT services support for our clients. We start with our comprehensive new client onboarding process designed to get your business up-and-running on our monitoring and management tools with as little disruption as possible. For over 15 years, we have successfully onboarded simple and complex IT infrastructure supporting multiple users including:

• Servers and Systems
Networking
• Collaboration (Phone, Video)
• Desktop, Email and Endpoints
• Microsoft Office 365 & Azure
• Security & Disaster Recovery

As your trusted partner, Tekscape becomes your go-to-guide for technology best practices aligned with your industry and your unique business goals. Our technology solutions can help reduce operational costs, eliminate downtime, and decrease overall IT spend.