Trending
Financial advisory firms can be a significant target for cyber threats due to their proximity to wealth and resources. The zero-trust security model offers a modern approach to securing sensitive data and systems, ensuring client safety and business continuity.
What Is a Zero-Trust Security Model?
Coined by former Forrester Research analyst John Kindervag, zero trust has gained acceptance over the past decade. The number of organizations adopting zero-trust initiatives more than doubled from 2021 to 2022.
The zero-trust security model operates on one fundamental principle — always verify. All zero-trust best practices use this statement as a starting point. All devices, users and applications must authenticate their identity regardless of their usage history or location in the network.
This approach is a shift away from traditional cybersecurity practices focused on protecting an organization’s physical perimeter. While effective, perimeter-based security can leave businesses vulnerable. In the third quarter of 2022, 35% of unauthorized data access cases came from insider threats, making it a notable vulnerability for organizations dealing with sensitive information.
Zero trust allows organizations to work around this weakness and maintain cyber defenses even among remote teams using devices, applications and networks across multiple locations. This increased security and emphasis on authentication make it ideal for financial institutions.
How to Implement Zero Trust in Finance
Cybercrime is incredibly lucrative, reaching an annual revenue of over $8 trillion due to technological advancements and innovative approaches. Financial advisory firms often deal with confidential information, so adopting zero-trust strategies is essential to prevent and mitigate cyberattacks on the business. Here are five ways to do it.
1. Define Priority Assets
While effective and secure, zero-trust systems are notorious for their complexity. When adopting this approach for the first time, it’s best to prioritize mission-critical processes or departments to maximize the benefits of this cybersecurity model.
Financial firms should start by identifying assets in their practice, including confidential data that could harm the organization and its clients when compromised.
When developing a strategy for a financial advisory firm, priority assets could include client records, wealth management software and customer relationship management systems.
2. Map Data Flows
Once the team identifies critical assets, it’s time to map the data flows and interactions between users, devices and software.
This step allows organizations to identify the users who need access to protected assets, plus their device and location information. It also maps out information pathways between each device or actor, including third-party users or components affecting these patterns.
Understanding these pathways helps teams ensure that the new cybersecurity system works with the existing data structure for continuity and compatibility.
3. Build the Zero-Trust Network
Once the team has identified critical assets and the flow of information between them, it’s time to architect the zero-trust network. This process involves dividing networks and assets based on their function and implementing access controls between each zone.
Users must reauthenticate their identity and device to move between each area. It takes more work, but this segmentation also contains potential breaches and reduces their potential harm.
4. Establish Access Policies
With assets and networks divided into zones, the organization can begin implementing access policies, which define who can retrieve and use specific data or applications, plus the conditions necessary for them to do so. It’s ideal for financial firms to adopt the least-privilege principle — only provide access to assets that are essential for a person, device or application to do their job.
For example, a financial advising company can set controls that only allow company-owned devices on secure networks to access clients’ financial data.
5. Monitor and Maintain
To maximize its benefits, zero-trust security should be a dynamic, living strategy. It’s a practice that requires regular monitoring, assessments and updates to ensure it remains effective.
Some monitoring and maintenance best practices include:
-
Monitoring users and devices to check for inconsistencies or suspicious activity
-
Evaluating systems for compliance with industry standards and data privacy laws
-
Updating policies and technology to keep pace with evolving threats and new tech
Designing Peak Security
Transitioning to zero trust is strategic, ensuring robust cybersecurity and trust among stakeholders. Securing each endpoint through authentication and verification protects assets and maintains financial practice integrity.