Data has become the financial services industry’s lifeblood. Data is essential and the most vital resource to safeguard, from managing transaction details and delivering real-time account and trade information to automating risk management operations, forecasting, and fraud detection.

Despite this, most financial institutions are not adequately safeguarded, as they lack strong data encryption both at rest and in action. Many businesses struggle to fully leverage digital identity across all enterprise use cases. Financial institutions that are adopting developing business models based on the Internet of Things (IoT) are failing to recognize the substantial security risk that linked devices represent. Given the rising reliance on data in the insurance, banking, and brokerage sectors, as well as the increasing digitization of financial services, financial institutions must fortify their security capabilities and eliminate potential vulnerabilities to stay ahead of threats.

Threats Come from Many Directions

Any device, system, or organization that holds or transmits sensitive financial or customer information is at risk. Threats, which can originate from both internal and external sources, now run the gamut from malware and credit/debit card theft to phishing attempts, Business Email Compromise (BEC), ransomware-based extortion, and large-scale data breaches.

One-Stop Digital Privacy, Identity, and Security

So, how can the financial services industry assure data security, privacy, and integrity? Public-Key Encryption (PKI), the gold standard in digital privacy, identification, and security, is the answer. Public-Key Encryption provides a solid security foundation for any enterprise device, server, user, and application, whether on-premises or in the cloud. Encrypting data at rest and in transit protects it from theft or tampering, and digital identity ensures secure authentication of users and apps to prevent fraud.

Furthermore, many financial organizations are failing to recognize the wide spectrum of digital assets and use cases that PKI can secure. Aside from using SSLPublic-Key Encryption certificates to safeguard public-facing websites, enterprise Public-Key Encryption solutions can satisfy large-scale financial institution requirements with enterprise SSL, private PKI, zero-touch S/MIME email encryption, code signing, and document signing.

PKI protects and secures financial services data in at least five ways:

Enterprise SSL

Allows administrators to manage certificates easily through a unified interface, and is the ideal solution for securing online banking and transaction sites, customer information sites, market analysis, and forecasting sites, tax filing, insurance, securities trading, and data gathering sites.

Private PKI

This is useful for supplementing Microsoft Active Directory Certificate Services, mobile devices, IoT, DevOps, cloud/multi-cloud, web servers, SSH Key management, Private S/MIME for secure email, intranet services, WiFi access, VPN access, POS systems, networking devices, and WinRM.

S/MIME

Both the sender and the recipient can use their existing S/MIME-capable email applications on multiple devices mobile or desktop; a welcome improvement over other approaches that disrupt the user experience by requiring users to use multiple certificate credentials. Email signature, email encryption, mobile email encryption, mobile WiFi access, and mobile website authentication are all possible with zero-touch S/MIME.

Code signing 

makes your program more trustworthy to users and aids in its widespread adoption. It is ideal for application development, DevOps, mobile devices, and the Internet of Things (IoT). All file kinds, from drivers and firmware to scripts and applications, are supported via code signing. Development teams have greater cryptographic flexibility and faster time to market for new financial services and products with enterprise-scale issuance, administration, and renewal/revocation/replacement functionality.

Document signing

Document signing enables financial institutions to comply with the most stringent electronic signature/digital signature laws, such as the FDA CFR 21 Part 11 requirements in the United States. Public-Key Encryption certificates are used in digital signatures to guarantee maximum security for regulated and sensitive document use cases such as account openings, loan applications, investment/private banking documents, and agreements.

Given the repercussions of not protecting data, banks, insurers, and other financial organizations should use PKI’s tremendous capabilities to defend against more complex threats and avoid costly attacks.