Page 30 - Security Today, September 2020

The Threat from Within Protecting banks during the challenge of COVID-19 and a reduced staff
BJy Kami Dukes
ust as banks use every tool at their disposal to maximize revenue opportunities and manage their ledger, they must take the same approach when it comes to security. New challenges with COV- ID-19, banks operating with a reduced staff and
employees working from home require an updated and more dili- gent security plan. Insider threat programs are a key component to an overall security plan.
While financial institutions implement some level of security, they can improve their security and insider threat programs lever- aging the latest security technologies. Cross-department collabo- ration, a practice that challenges organizations, is an extremely helpful part of the solution but is often the hardest to execute. Combining the right mix of technology and security staff will better protect financial institutions from insider threats and help meet COVID-19 guidelines.
The biggest risk to financial institutions is the possibility of bank employees accessing private user account data, including account numbers which can be printed, emailed, saved and be
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sold to bad actors for a high dollar amount. Most banks have deployed an access control system to manage access throughout their complicated environment. Access control systems collect large amounts of employee access data on a daily basis. While the amount of data collected is overwhelming and difficult to man- age, it is extremely useful when trying to identify potential risks.
An analytics system can process access control data and as- sist with insider threat and COVID-19 challenges. Deploying an analytics system alongside an access control and identity man- agement system can help leverage data to identify risks through anomalous behaviors by tracking an employee’s access history and behavior patterns.
HOW ANALYTICS SYSTEMS WORK
People are creatures of habit and have daily work routines based on where they enter a building, what elevator they use, the location of their office or desk. Over time, employees establish their work patterns and the analytics system learns what doors they enter and exit and when they move about. It understands
BANKING SECURITY
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