--> How can you create a cybersecurity culture in Financial Technology companies?

Cybersecurity is a vital aspect of any financial technology (fintech) company, as it protects sensitive data, transactions, and systems from malicious attacks. However, cybersecurity is not only a technical issue, but also a cultural one. Creating a cybersecurity culture means fostering a mindset and behavior that values security, awareness, and responsibility among all employees and stakeholders. In this article, we will discuss how you can create a cybersecurity culture in your fintech company using some practical steps and strategies.

1 Assess your current situation

The first step to creating a cybersecurity culture is to assess your current situation and identify your strengths and weaknesses. You can use various tools and frameworks, such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, to evaluate your security posture and maturity level. You should also conduct regular audits, tests, and reviews to detect any vulnerabilities, gaps, or incidents in your systems and processes. By assessing your current situation, you can establish a baseline and prioritize your actions.

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Akshay Tiwari

CISSP | EDR | SIEM | SOC | CSIRT | IR | INVESTIGATIONS | 12+ years in cyber security space
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Understanding your current position is an important part of running your Information security program. In most of the cases the associated organisation is at a certain level of maturity but what is the level and what are the gap is to be assessed. There are multiple industry standards and frameworks popular for financial industry. Before jumping into the direct certificate of the organisation there are a series of internal and external audit conducted focusing the specific areas. Some of known standards for different areas in financial sector are listed below NIST Cybersecurity Framework ISO/IEC 27001 CIS Critical Security Controls COBIT OWASP Risk Rating Methodology HITRUST CSF PCI DSS

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2 Define your goals and policies

The next step is to define your goals and policies for cybersecurity. You should align your goals with your business objectives, customer expectations, and industry standards. You should also communicate your goals clearly and consistently to your employees and stakeholders, and explain why they are important. Additionally, you should create and enforce policies that define the roles, responsibilities, and rules for security in your fintech company. Your policies should cover topics such as access control, data protection, incident response, and compliance.

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Akshay Tiwari

CISSP | EDR | SIEM | SOC | CSIRT | IR | INVESTIGATIONS | 12+ years in cyber security space
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Policy, procedure and guidelines play a very important role. Line these with your organisation mission statement to support business. Information security policy should come with highest amount of support in an organisation i.e. from the C level. Enforcement of these policies is also a critical aspect in order to ensure implementation of Management control, technical control and physical controls is important.

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3 Educate and train your staff

Another crucial step is to educate and train your staff on cybersecurity. You should provide regular and relevant training sessions, workshops, and resources to your employees, especially those who handle sensitive data or systems. You should also raise awareness and engagement on security issues, such as phishing, malware, or ransomware, and teach your staff how to prevent, detect, and report them. Moreover, you should create a feedback loop and reward system to encourage and recognize good security practices and behaviors.

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Akshay Tiwari

CISSP | EDR | SIEM | SOC | CSIRT | IR | INVESTIGATIONS | 12+ years in cyber security space
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Training and education is an important process in order to enforce your cyber security policy. This is an ongoing process which should have elements such as - Mandatory Trainings Guidelines SOP's Interactive sessions Makeing learning intresting makes a huge impact on the involvement of respective audiance use method such as Gameification Interactive Learning Rewards Recognitions These will help improve the Training and awareness program in terms of cyber security.

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4 Implement and monitor your solutions

The fourth step is to implement and monitor your solutions for cybersecurity. You should use appropriate tools and technologies, such as encryption, authentication, firewalls, or antivirus, to protect your data, transactions, and systems. You should also use API testing frameworks, such as Postman, Rest-Assured, or SoapUI, to ensure the functionality, reliability, and security of your APIs. Furthermore, you should monitor and measure your security performance and effectiveness using metrics, indicators, and dashboards.

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Akshay Tiwari

CISSP | EDR | SIEM | SOC | CSIRT | IR | INVESTIGATIONS | 12+ years in cyber security space
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Financial institutions need to have a robust and resilient cyber security structure of the highest order. They should have necessary control to ensure compliance and protect PII. Web application security/Web security/Application security are the key areas to address along with Infrastructure security , Network security, Database security, GRC etc. Addressing CIA in all these areas is required which means heavy investment in Tools and technology associated such as SIEM , WAF , NAC , IAM , EDR , FW , PKI , IPS/IDS , encryption software etc

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5 Update and improve your processes

The final step is to update and improve your processes for cybersecurity. You should adopt a continuous improvement approach and adapt to the changing needs and challenges of your fintech business. You should also review and update your goals, policies, and solutions regularly to reflect the latest trends, threats, and best practices. Additionally, you should learn from your successes and failures, and share your lessons and insights with your employees and stakeholders.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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--> How can you create a cybersecurity culture in Financial Technology companies?

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1 Assess your current situation

2 Define your goals and policies

3 Educate and train your staff

4 Implement and monitor your solutions

5 Update and improve your processes

6 Here’s what else to consider

Financial Technology

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--> How can you create a cybersecurity culture in Financial Technology companies?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Assess your current situation

2 Define your goals and policies

3 Educate and train your staff

4 Implement and monitor your solutions

5 Update and improve your processes

6 Here’s what else to consider

Financial Technology

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