Financial Data Protection: All You Need to Know

Financial data protection is among the top concerns for most companies doing business today. Financial data is highly sensitive and must be protected according to international standards. Any organization that handles customer payments of any kind needs financial data protection. From healthcare and insurance to financial services and ecommerce websites, none are exempt. Should an organization suffer data loss of any kind, they risk severe penalties that could impact their business continuity.

Financial Data: What Is It?

Financial data, by definition, is any information related to a financial account or transaction. These include customer account numbers, credit card numbers, transaction data, sales data, purchase history, credit information, and credit rating data. Financial data also covers a company’s assets and liabilities. It includes real estate, equipment, furniture, computers, intellectual property, patents, and debt owed.

Why Financial Data Needs to Be Protected?

Under legislation like the GDPR (or any data privacy legislation), companies are directly accountable for ensuring financial data security. They are also responsible for ensuring that any third-party vendors handling financial data for them are also compliant.

Financial Data Protection Best Practices

Knowing financial data protection best practices is an excellent first step to protecting your organization. Here are a few tips to get you started.

1. Enforce Strong Passwords:

Compromised credentials are one of the most common causes of financial data breaches. According to a Verizon study, 61% of breaches are caused by unauthorized people accessing employee accounts.

2. Implement Role-Based Access:

Not every employee needs to have access to all aspects of your systems. Restrict employee access to files and folders they need and nothing more. For example, your marketing department does not need access to financial data, and your accounting department does not require access to your website’s back-end code.

3. Train Your Staff to Recognize Security Threats:

These days, hackers don’t waste their time hacking into systems. They can gain access much faster and easier from the inside, either through phishing emails or by tricking employees into clicking on malicious links.

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