Financial Institutions and Vulnerability Management

ByDaniel Gottilla

Financial Institutions and Vulnerability Management

If you’re in the business of money, vulnerability management should be on your list of priorities. In addition to security risks that change as often as the market, there are also considerations in federal regulations regarding customer data safety, as well.

There are a number of components of a good vulnerability management plan, including everything from finding weaknesses to making sure employee compliance is at its height. Some of the major components include:

• Policies and Procedures: How does your company define rights and responsibilities for employee device use, user identity, and server access? How accessible and enforced is this information?

• Baseline and Assessment: Where are your biggest weaknesses – in the system or in employee use? Have you run a vulnerability assessment, and what are the findings?

• Priorities: Now that you know where your vulnerabilities lie, how important are they? What needs to be addressed immediately, and what can be put off until the budget allows?

• Solutions: Most companies fail the biggest in this category of vulnerability management: follow-through. Knowing where your weaknesses lie will only help you strengthen your infrastructure if you do something about them.

• Regular Maintenance: For financial institutions, this step is key. Information regulations are always changing, and in order to avoid liability and maintain a good name in the industry, you have to put data security at the top of your list.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re in the market for a vulnerability management review or if you’re considering it for the first time – you can benefit from the services of an IT consulting firm that specializes in your industry.