In 1999, Congress passed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which requires financial institutions to explain their information-sharing practices to their customers and to safeguard sensitive data.[1] The Act mandated the passage of the Safeguards Rule, which was promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in May 2002 and made effective May 2003.[2] In 2019, the FTC began working on amendments to the Safeguards Rule, and on December 9, 2021, the FTC finalized these amendments.[3] Depending on the classification of their financial institution, clients will need to understand the following rule changes and properly abide by the new FTC regulations.
FTC Strengthens Data Security: What The Newest Safeguards Rule Amendment Means For Financial Institutions
Topics: Cybersecurity, Penetration Testing, Risk Assessment, Banking, Financial Institutions
MXDR, SIEM, or Both? Here Are The Right Tools To Detect & Respond To Cyberattacks
MXDR (Managed Extended Detection and Response) is a professionally managed combination of tools that use powerful AI to correlate readings from different security monitoring tools. The process for implementing MDXR depends on the tools you already have in place. Switching to a new tool can be tricky if you’re mid-contract with another vendor. It’s a good idea to talk to a defensive cybersecurity expert to get set up with the right stack of tools for your organization!
Topics: Cybersecurity, SIEM, MXDR
Managing Cyberthreats to the Banking Industry in 2023
As online and at-home banking options become more accessible, more online activity increases the risk of theft. Since 2021, IBM reported that the average cost of a breach rose from $4.24 million to $4.35 million.
Topics: Cybersecurity, Incident Response, SIEM, Risk Assessment, Banking, Escape Game
Company Catch-up: ProCircular’s Journey From Tech Startup to Inc. 5000 Company
Aaron Warner founded ProCircular, Inc. in 2016 when he recognized a missed opportunity to bring the emerging cybersecurity industry to the middle of the country. Tech experts predicted that our world’s tremendous and sudden reliance on virtual information systems would create lucrative opportunities for international hackers. As tech solutions develop, they often start in more heavily-populated regions before making their way into the mainstream. However, cybersecurity threats are not geographically limited, and midwestern companies were at risk of facing cyber threats with little access to well-established, local support.
Topics: Cybersecurity
The shift to remote work challenged organizations of all sizes to increase their digital footprint and allow everyone to collaborate and work from anywhere in the world to satisfy their customers and clients. For some organizations (usually larger), this is not a problem. However, increasing a digital footprint while keeping security at the forefront can be challenging for medium-sized or smaller companies. The pandemic has fueled an increase in cybercrime, and there are no signs of it slowing down.
When the pandemic first hit, companies had to transform their businesses quickly, and with that came an increase in security vulnerabilities. It is not crazy to say that most small or medium companies think they are “too small” to be a target, but that is not true. The media likes to spotlight attacks on Fortune 500 companies and make it sound like vulnerabilities and malware are complex issues. This rhetoric makes smaller and medium-sized companies shy away from implementing cybersecurity programs and shift their focus to other business areas.
The reality is that cybercriminals are organized and can attack anyone at any given moment. If your company has any value at all, you are a target. Attackers know that going after large companies is risky and increases their chances of getting in trouble with law enforcement. Ultimately, all they want are quick and easy paydays, and smaller companies typically are an easier target to hit.
Topics: Cybersecurity