Home Learn Achieving Cyber Security in Financial Services Achieving Cyber Security in Financial Services Learn how financial institutions can build cyber resilience. Explore key strategies and solutions to defend against cyber threats and maintain compliance. Request demo Achieving Cyber Security in Financial Services Overview Threats Consequences Risks Advantages Case Study How We Help Resources oVERVIEW Achieving Cyber Security in Financial Services Financial institutions face an increasingly sophisticated array of cyber threats targeting their sensitive data, financial systems, and customer information. The stakes have never been higher for banks, investment firms, and insurance companies operating in a digital-first environment.Financial services organizations remain prime targets for cybercriminals due to the valuable data they possess and the critical nature of their operations. Cyberattacks in this sector can have far-reaching consequences beyond immediate financial losses.The financial sector’s rapid digital transformation has created new vulnerabilities alongside innovative capabilities. Protection strategies must evolve at the same pace to safeguard assets and maintain customer trust in an interconnected financial ecosystem. Challenges and limitations Top Cyber Threats to Financial Services Financial institutions face unique and persistent cyber threats designed to exploit their valuable data assets and critical infrastructure. The most common attacks include:• Phishing and social engineering: Sophisticated attempts to manipulate employees into revealing credentials or executing fraudulent transactions through deceptive emails, messages, or calls.• Insider threats: Malicious or negligent actions by employees with legitimate access to sensitive systems and data.• Ransomware: Targeted encryption of critical financial data with demands for payment, often threatening to expose sensitive information.• DDoS attacks: Overwhelming financial service websites and applications to disrupt operations and customer access.• API vulnerabilities: Exploitation of weaknesses in the interfaces connecting financial services with third-party applications.Cloud adoption has fundamentally changed the threat landscape for financial institutions. As organizations migrate core banking systems, customer data, and transaction processing to cloud environments, they face evolving attack vectors. Complex regulatory standards further complicate matters: Financial institutions must simultaneously innovate while adhering to stringent compliance requirements that vary by jurisdiction.The hybrid and multi-cloud reality of modern financial institutions creates significant security challenges. Security teams must monitor threats across diverse environments with different security models and visibility limitations.This fragmented infrastructure complicates consistent policy enforcement, creates potential blind spots in security monitoring, and requires specialized expertise across multiple platforms. Financial organizations struggle to maintain comprehensive threat detection and coordinated incident response across these disparate environments. consequences Why Strong Cyber Defenses Matter in Finance The consequences of inadequate cybersecurity in financial services extend far beyond immediate data breaches or financial losses. Reputational damage can be devastating: Customers lose confidence in institutions that fail to protect their assets, leading to significant customer attrition.Regulatory penalties have become increasingly severe, with fines potentially reaching millions of dollars for compliance failures. Operational disruptions from cyber incidents can halt trading, prevent transactions, or disable customer access to accounts for extended periods.A comprehensive financial services security program requires several critical components:• Zero-trust architecture: Verification of all users and devices attempting to access resources, regardless of their location.• Strong encryption: Protection of data both in transit and at rest across all environments.• Automated recovery capabilities: Rapid restoration of systems and data following incidents to minimize downtime.• Threat intelligence integration: Proactive identification of emerging threats specific to financial services.• Regular penetration testing: Identification of vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.Financial institutions face extraordinary compliance complexity. Regulations like the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) in the European Union impose strict requirements for cyber resilience and third-party risk management. Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) mandates specific controls for handling payment information. The Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2) establishes cybersecurity requirements for critical infrastructure, including financial services. These overlapping frameworks create a complex compliance landscape requiring sophisticated management approaches. risks Financial Sector Risks Compared to Other Industries The financial sector’s unique operational characteristics create distinctive cybersecurity challenges. Financial institutions process continuous, time-sensitive transactions that cannot tolerate disruption. A minutes-long outage can result in millions of dollars in losses and impact thousands of customers. This constant transaction flow provides attackers with persistent opportunities to identify and exploit vulnerabilities.Common misconceptions about financial sector cybersecurity can lead to inadequate protection strategies. Many institutions overestimate the effectiveness of perimeter defenses in an era of cloud computing and remote work.Others make the mistake of generalizing breach types rather than recognizing the highly targeted, sophisticated attacks specifically designed for financial institutions. Some organizations focus exclusively on external threats while neglecting insider risks that account for a significant percentage of incidents. advantages Advantages of Proactive Cyber Safeguards Financial institutions that implement proactive cyber safeguards gain operational advantages.• Swift data recovery capabilities help prevent extended downtime during incidents. Organizations can restore critical systems within minutes rather than days, maintaining business continuity and customer service even under adverse conditions.• Automated compliance through integrated oversight helps financial institutions meet strict regulatory mandates. Comprehensive monitoring, documentation, and reporting capabilities streamline audit processes and help avoid compliance penalties. This automation reduces the manual effort required to demonstrate adherence to frameworks like DORA, PCI DSS, and NIS2.• Early threat detection and response can help reduce operational costs associated with cyber incidents. Proactive identification of threats before they cause damage helps minimize recovery expenses, forensic investigation costs, and potential regulatory fines. The financial impact of a contained threat is a fraction of the cost of a full-scale breach.• Perhaps most importantly, visible commitment to asset protection strengthens client trust. Financial institutions that demonstrate robust security practices build stronger relationships with customers increasingly concerned about data privacy and security. This trust translates directly into customer retention and competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace. case study Case Study: Global Financial Services Company Transforms Cyber Resilience A global financial services company faced significant challenges with its fragmented backup and recovery infrastructure. The organization lacked standardization in backup policies and had no cohesive data resilience solution due to a broadly distributed data environment with limited visibility.This fragmentation resulted in high operational costs and a non-resilient backup architecture that left the company vulnerable to increasing ransomware threats targeting the financial sector.The company partnered with Cognizant and Commvault to implement a comprehensive cyber resilience strategy. The solution consolidated multiple point solutions into a single, unified platform for backup and recovery operations across a multi-country, hybrid environment. This approach eliminated potential gaps in data protection and addressed technical debt while providing end-to-end visibility into the company’s data environment.Key components of the implementation included:• Consolidation of data protection and recovery operations on the Commvault Cloud platform with a centralized architecture.• De-duplication and compression technologies for faster backup and higher backup success rates.• High-availability architecture for the backup infrastructure.• Global standardization of backup and retention policies.The unified platform allowed the enterprise to modernize its security and data policies, automate and optimize storage and recovery operations, and maintain compliance across various regulatory requirements. The solution leveraged AI-driven capabilities to provide greater intelligence and accuracy, including real-time anomaly detection and threat analysis for earlier warning of cyberthreats.“Commvault provides end-to-end visibility to a complex enterprise data environment and granular recovery options to ensure data is always ready for business. Commvault is helping us deliver what true cybersecurity and resilience should be.” said Siddhaarth Pandey, Director, Cloud, Infrastructure, and Security Services Practice at Cognizant.The results were impressive:• 40% faster backup and restore rates for critical servers with storage snapshot integrations and disk-based backups. • 100% server coverage with a unified platform for all workloads across different backup locations.• 99% backup success rate through consolidated operations and diligent backup management.• Effective management of 1024 PBT data across 3000+ clients, including Salesforce and Microsoft 365 workloads.• Reduced risk, data footprint, and storage costs through global de-duplication and compression.• Enhanced disaster recovery through backup replication between primary and secondary sites.• Ransomware alerting at the media agent level.This transformation allowed the financial services company to establish a holistic cyber resilience strategy to defend against ransomware and other cyber risks while maintaining the integrity and security of vital data across multiple locations. how we help How Commvault Supports Financial Services Cyber Resilience Commvault’s unified platform provides financial institutions with comprehensive capabilities to identify and mitigate cyber threats across their environments. The solution integrates advanced security features with data protection to create a cohesive defense strategy tailored to the unique needs of financial services organizations.Core strengths of Commvault’s approach include:• Sophisticated threat detection: AI-forward anomaly detection identifies potential ransomware and other threats before they impact critical systems.• Immutable backups: Protection of financial data with backup copies that remain secure even if production systems are compromised.• Compliance search capabilities: Rapid identification and retrieval of specific data required for regulatory inquiries or audits.• Comprehensive data backup: Protection of diverse financial workloads across on-premises, cloud, and SaaS environments.• Accelerated recovery: Minimized downtime through rapid restoration of critical financial systems and data.• Multi-environment management: Unified protection across hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures common in financial services.Financial institutions benefit from Commvault’s centralized approach to cyber resilience. The platform’s simplicity reduces the complexity of managing security across disparate environments. Its scalability accommodates growth without compromising protection. Most importantly, it provides comprehensive coverage for the diverse systems and data types found in modern financial organizations.Commvault’s team of financial services experts can provide additional insights into protecting specific banking, investment, and insurance workloads. Organizations can develop tailored strategies to address their unique security challenges and compliance requirements with expert guidance on implementation and optimization.Financial institutions must prioritize cyber resilience to protect their critical assets, maintain customer trust, and meet regulatory requirements. Modern cyber threats require sophisticated, integrated solutions that can adapt to the changing landscape while providing comprehensive protection across hybrid environments.A unified approach to data protection and cyber resilience helps organizations stay ahead of threats while maintaining operational efficiency and regulatory compliance.Request a demo to see how we can help strengthen your financial institution’s cyber resilience strategy. Related Terms Data Encryption A security process that converts data from a readable format into an encoded, unreadable form to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access. Learn more Air Gap Backup A backup system that is physically isolated from the main network, creating a protective “gap” that prevents malware and ransomware from accessing backup data. Learn more Cyber Deception A proactive security tactic that uses decoys to detect, divert, and defend against malicious actors before they can compromise critical financial systems and data. Learn more Case Study Global Financial Services Company Puts Premium on Cyber Resilience Discover how a global financial services company partnered with Cognizant and Commvault to implement a comprehensive cyber resilience strategy that consolidated multiple point solutions into a unified platform. solution brief DORA Compliance with Confidence Learn how financial institutions can navigate the complex requirements of the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) with Commvault’s comprehensive data protection solutions. solution brief Cyber Resilience ina New Era of RigorousCompliance Mandates Explore strategies for maintaining cyber resilience while meeting the increasingly stringent compliance requirements that financial institutions face today.