INDUSTRY ENLIGHTENMENT

 

The financial services industry is one of the most regulated industries in the world. Whether an entity is a Bank, Hedge Fund, high net worth individual, Credit Union et cetera, it must comply with regulatory requirements specific to their business domain. Larger institutions have surplus dollars to implement a security department to assess and manage risk; however, smaller firms are wary of excess cost and rationalize unmanaged risk as small due to the small size of the organization itself. Information Security is not based on company size, business valuation or employee count; security relates to the company, partner and/or customer data. Data can be represented as personal data, financial data et cetera. One of the first steps in aligning a firm‘s security posture is to understand how many regulatory standards the firm must comply with. For example, Banks must adhere to FFIEC, GLBA and PCI. Fund Managers must adhere to SEC Regulations and ISO.

The cost of a data breach is very expensive: a firm is required to pay services for the affected people, regulatory fines and reputational damage. Reputational damage could force potential inventors and clients to shy away from conducting business with the

compromised firm.Risks can originate from a variety of sources (technology, people, process, physical, intellectual property). Therefore, the appropriate first step in risk management is risk identification, via a process known as the Risk Assessment. The Risk Assessment is an assessment of the entire organization, not a specific department, location or subsidiary. By assessing the organization as a whole, the security roadmap can be constructed to support organizational business objectives while minimizing risk exposure to organizational assets.

 

Conclusion

Regulatory matters are quite complex, however, not having the knowledge of which regulatory standards one must comply with

is considered willful neglect. Partner with The Knox Corps to remediate risks in your firm and improve business credibility and

profitability by adequately securing your global assets.