The impact of a cyberattack on a financial institution goes far beyond the immediate financial loss.

• Reputational damage: A public breach causes lost trust and customer churn. Rebuilding that trust can take years, if it's even possible at all.

• Regulatory penalties: Financial institutions are subject to strict regulations, like the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). A breach leads to hefty fines and intense scrutiny from regulators combing through your business. 

• Operational disruption: Your core banking system crashes, the banking mobile app locks up for customers, and ATMs won’t dole out cash. A cyberattack easily grinds operations to a halt with no warning, costing you money every minute you're offline and causing chaos for your customers.

• Data Loss: Financial institutions hold massive amounts of sensitive data that’s valuable to cybercriminals: Social Security numbers, bank account details, and credit card information. Losing this data impacts your customers' privacy and exposes your business to lawsuits and regulatory fines.

The risks are high, the consequences are daunting, and cybercriminals aren’t slowing down any time soon. A multi-layered financial services cyber protection strategy is crucial for protecting your financial business and customers.  

Why are financial institutions a top target for cybercriminals? Because that's where the money is! Here are some of the most common cyber threats the financial sector defends against.

• Ransomware: This nasty malware encrypts files, making them inaccessible to end users. The attackers then demand a ransom payment in cryptocurrency that they claim will restore your access (hopefully). For a bank or credit union, this is lost access to customer account information, transaction records, and internal communications. Trust us, you don’t want to deal with this. 

• Phishing and spear phishing: Phishing attacks use deceptive emails, texts, or websites to trick people into sharing sensitive information, like passwords and credit card numbers. Spear phishing is a more targeted version where attackers customize their messages for a specific individual or organization, often impersonating a trusted colleague or vendor. 

• Malware and trojans: Malware is any type of malicious software that infiltrates, damages, or takes control of devices and networks. Trojans are a specific type of sneaky malware that infiltrates your systems as something harmless, giving attackers a backdoor to steal, spy, or spread more malware. 

• Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS): DDoS attacks flood your network, website, or server traffic to slow them down or make them crash completely. This puts your online banking portal, website, and mobile apps at risk while blocking customers from their accounts. It's the digital equivalent of a massive, disruptive protest right outside your front door.

• Insider threats: Some threats are actually within your perimeter, like a disgruntled employee intentionally stealing data, or an accidental click on a malicious link. Regardless of the intent, the result is the same: your security is compromised from within.

Feeling a little overwhelmed by all those threats? Don't worry, that's normal, and we’re here to help. Our managed security solutions are designed to protect you from these exact threats.

Advanced threat detection and response

Traditional antivirus software is great at catching known threats knocking at the perimeter door, but what about everything else? Huntress Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) continuously monitors your Windows and macOS endpoints for suspicious activity that sneaks past your perimeter, like persistent footholds, sketchy process behavior, and early-stage ransomware attacks. We find it, contain it, and shut it down before any real damage is done. 

Our EDR is backed by our 24/7 human-led, AI-assisted Security Operations Center (SOC). They’re always watching so you can sleep, go on vacation, and have peace of mind. When they find something malicious, they don't just send an alert to keep truckin’ through the queue. They investigate the threat, determine its scope in your environment, and provide you with step-by-step remediation instructions. It’s like having a team of cybersecurity detectives on your side 24/7. 

This level of cyber threat monitoring for financial institutions is non-negotiable.

Proactive security awareness training

If employees don’t know how to spot red flags, how can we expect them to help protect financial organizations?

Our Managed Security Awareness Training (SAT) teaches your workforce about the signs of common cyber threats, like phishing, password security, and social engineering. We make it fun with humor and real-world examples to make the training stick. As an added bonus, we dish out phishing simulations to test your employees' knowledge and track their progress over time. A well-trained team is one of the most effective cybersecurity tools for financial institutions.

Identity threat protection

Our Managed Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) is designed to safeguard your financial organization from the risk of identity-based attacks. With cybercriminals ruthlessly targeting sensitive financial data, ITDR combines cutting-edge detection and response tools with human-led expert analysis to quickly spot and contain threats, like credential theft, session hijacking, and rogue OAuth apps. By proactively defending your identities with ITDR, you stop threat actors from gaining stealthy persistence in your environment to launch bigger attacks like ransomware, extortion, and data theft. 

Integrated security platform

Managing a dozen different security tools is a nightmare. Huntress simplifies your security stack by putting multiple solutions into a single, easy-to-use platform. You can manage all of the above from one place on your screen. This not only makes your life easier but also gives you a more holistic snapshot of your security posture.

Protecting a financial institution from cyber threats is a colossal task. The stakes are as high as they get, with adversaries targeting at an unforgiving pace. But with the right partner and the right tools, you can build a resilient defense that protects your organization, your employees, and your customers.

Huntress gives you the purpose-built platform, technology, and human expertise you need to stay one step ahead of the bad guys. We're your partner in the fight against cybercrime.