By FintechNews staff
The possession of a huge amount of customer data and valuable assets has made banks the top target of hackers and the threat of financial losses. Therefore banks have been at the forefront of enterprise cybersecurity.
The success of any financial institution hinges on trust. And if consumers don’t trust a bank to proactively safeguard their accounts from cybercriminals and fraudsters, they’ll go to the bank down the street that’s doing everything it can to protect its customers.
In this age of growing security threats, there are three key strategic priorities that can help banks protect their customers, reduce fraud losses, and build trust in their brand.
1. Shift to password-less authentication
The days of “choose a strong password” are truly over—passwords are far too easy to buy, steal, or phish from people. Phishing is the most prevalent type of cyber-attack, comprising more than 80% of reported attacks. In most cases, the attacker aims to deceive the users into compromising their login credentials.
Many banks are now turning to voice biometrics to help fight off sophisticated fraud attacks. By identifying people based on their unique voiceprint, rather than the device they have, a password they know, or an OTP they may have intercepted, banks can be confident that the person behind the transaction is the account owner.
Biometric security closes the door to many of the biggest criminal schemes, bringing huge reductions in fraud losses, as well as increased customer trust. But one of the most exciting things about biometric authentication is how it’s helping banks identify individual fraudsters and work with law enforcement to bring them to justice.
2. Adopt a layered approach to security
Layered security protects network environments (including the data therein) by erecting several perimeter defenses. This layered approach to cybersecurity makes network breach more difficult; cyber criminals would need to defeat multiple layers of defenses to successfully access a network environment.
The best layered security approach combines multiple security solutions that do not share failure modes.
A thorough approach to threat prevention includes:
- Antivirus: to catch known threats
- End Point Detection and Response: to catch advanced threats
- Firewall: to control the traffic on a network
- Spam filters: to detected undesirable emails
- Disaster recovery system: to return a network environment, and all the corporate data, to an operational state.
3. Share fraud data
Just as no technology can tackle fraud alone, no financial institution can tackle fraud alone. They’re stronger when they join forces—with other banks, and with organizations from across retail, telecommunications, and government.
Fraudsters are incredibly agile, and fraud teams face new threats every day. By sharing data on known fraudsters and emerging fraud tactics across organizations and industries, each contributing company will remove many of the obstacles that prevent fraud teams from protecting customers effectively.
So, while strengthening fraud prevention will help banks drive competitive advantage, institutions will also need to work together to win the fight against their criminal adversaries.
