An Accenture survey report from 2016 found that financial services firms are facing a large number of security breaches. The report stated that a financial services firm faces an average of 85 targeted breach attempts each year, a third of which will be successful.
It is becoming challenging for CIOs in the financial industry to balance regulations to ensure compliance and data security (comprising of privacy and disaster recovery) while enabling a frictionless experience for customers and employees.
In this age of digital transformation, with the increasing technology requirements from customers and employees, it is becoming very difficult to maintain effective security measures while keeping cost savings, efficiency and customer experience (CX) in mind.
The question that comes to mind is what steps can financial institutions take to ensure data security while making sure consumer protection and compliance regulations are met?
Benefits of Secure Hosted Private Cloud Services for the Financial Services Industry
Cloud technology is among the top trending technologies driving the digital transformation in the financial services industry. Since Dodd-Frank, the industry went through a significant change. Firms are looking for tools that can give them a competitive advantage, and any new technology that can bring security, operational efficiency, and cost savings fits the bill.
While security and data privacy remain the key concerns for CIOs, having their data in a public multi-tenant cloud environment can be worrisome as multiple entry points can expose data and allow hackers or other malicious sources to compromise security. On the other hand, leveraging a secure hosted private cloud solution can provide them with a multi-customer environment that will isolate access to their infrastructure and meet the guidelines for individual security and licensing requirements.
Cloud solutions add user flexibility where access is not only confined to a particular device. Users can access their complete workstation securely along with their data and applications from any device and location, increasing productivity and efficiency as users are no longer tied to a physical desk. Hosted Workspaces include solutions like Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and Application Publishing that are easy to setup with minimum maintenance requirements. This frees up IT staff to focus on more strategic initiatives.
Regulatory and Security Compliance is Available with Hosted Private Cloud Solutions
With all the talk lately on cloud security breaches, industry CIOs are justifiably concerned over moving such sensitive data into a cloud solution. But they don’t need to be. Hosted private cloud solutions meet the regulatory and security requirement for the financial services industry, from GLBA to many other industry-specific regulations.
In many ways, a cloud solution can be more secure than on-premise. Cloud Solution Providers have dedicated resources to continually monitor and update their platform against malicious threats. When you utilize a hosted private cloud solution, you are not just paying for the space, but are also gaining access to some of the brightest cyber-security minds. Additionally, there is no reason to panic if an employee’s official laptop is stolen, as all the data is stored in the cloud and not on an end point. Any unauthorized user would not be able to gain access and the employee can continue to be productive by accessing the data from another endpoint.
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
For a consumer-facing industry like financial services, loss of revenue due to downtime is not an option, whether it be from a natural disaster or an accidental event. Cloud services, with its built in Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) strategy ensures that data is secure and accessible as it is backed up on various different geographical locations. As long as there is an internet enabled device, employees can keep working from wherever they are.
Ensure Your Institution’s Security with dinCloud
dinCloud is a hosted private cloud solution provider that has security woven into its DNA. We have a saying “if it’s not secure, it’s not worth using!” dinCloud offers hyper-converged infrastructure that includes 1 daily backup that is stored for 10 days. For information on what is available from dinCloud, contact us via this form.
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