Driving Simplicity in the Complex World of

Community Focused Financial Services

In any financial services organization, the pursuit of robust cybersecurity measures is non-negotiable. However, for smaller, community-focused financial institutions, this pursuit comes with its own set of challenges. Limited budgets, relentless targeting by cybercriminals, and stringent regulatory demands make navigating the cybersecurity landscape a daunting task. Yet, amidst these complexities, there are strategies that can simplify the process to fortify the defenses of these vital community hubs, while also maintaining regulatory obligations.

Financials Find Themselves Choosing Between Defense & Compliance.

Financial constraints often force community-focused financial institutions into a difficult dilemma: invest in cybersecurity defenses or allocate resources to meet regulatory compliance requirements. This balancing act can leave them vulnerable to cyber threats while risking regulatory penalties for non-compliance.

Community Oriented Financial Services Are Highly Targeted.

As integral pillars of their communities, these financial institutions are prime targets for cyber attackers. With valuable financial data at stake and potentially weaker defenses due to limited resources, they become attractive targets for cybercriminals seeking to exploit vulnerable defenses for financial gain.

Same Regulatory Requirements, Different Resources.

Regulatory compliance is a must for financial institutions, regardless of size. However, meeting these requirements can be particularly challenging for community-focused financial organizations operating on restricted budgets. The need to comply with complex regulations often diverts resources away from cybersecurity initiatives, leaving them exposed to threats.

Be Strategic About Addressing Defense & Compliance Simultaneously.

Instead of viewing defensive measures and regulatory compliance as separate endeavors, integrate them into a comprehensive Cybersecurity strategy. Identify areas where defensive measures can simultaneously meet compliance efforts and vice versa and prioritize those efforts first. By aligning defensive measures with regulatory requirements, resources can be utilized more efficiently, maximizing protection while meeting regulatory obligations.

Design Your Standards to Address Multiple Compliance Mandates.

Rather than creating separate IT and Cybersecurity standards for each regulatory requirement, develop your internal standards in a way that covers multiple mandates from your applicable regulations and frameworks. This approach streamlines compliance efforts, reducing duplication of work and optimizes resource allocation. By adopting a unified approach to compliance, community-focused financial institutions can achieve regulatory adherence across multiple regulatory requirements simultaneously.

Build Defenses in Layers.

Implementing layered defenses is an essential approach for safeguarding your network. However, given limited resources, prioritize protection for high-value systems and sensitive data as these systems will typically be high value targets for Cybercriminals as well as align to compliance mandates. By focusing initial efforts on securing the most critical assets, you refocus later efforts by taking a risk-based approach to establishing robust cybersecurity protections across the balance of your technology resources. As resources allow, additional layers of defense can be added to further bolster protection based on organizational growth or shifting regulatory mandates.