Security & Compliance
June 23, 2024
3 minutes
You know the importance of protecting your personal passwords to prevent against hacks and secure yourself from data leaks. But are you unintentionally leaving your customer data vulnerable to security risks?
When it comes to loan management, ensuring the security and integrity of your customer and loan data is non-negotiable. And, financial firms make up one-fifth of cyber attacks. Not all loan management software platforms offer the same level of security and protection against such attacks. Let’s explore the essential aspects of data security that organizations need to consider, and why it's critical to prioritize security over convenience to protect your business.
Phishing. Smishing. Social Engineering. Attackers will often use human interaction to obtain key information necessary to access secure company systems, the same way they use these practices to hack personal accounts. The basics of personal data security also apply to your customer and loan data. All it takes is one unsuspecting employee to answer a phishing email, or click the link on a phony SMS, to be hooked by a scammer or inadvertently download malware to a company device.
How can you protect your systems themselves? If your organization isn't using a loan management system to centralize and properly manage data and keep it secure, it's exposed to numerous risks. Systems without proper access controls and role-based access security (RBAC) risk having unauthorized users gain access to sensitive information, potentially leading to data breaches and compliance issues. Two-factor authentication helps ensure further access security by protecting against password hacks or phishing attacks.
Imagine if your critical loan data was altered without any traceability – this would have severe repercussions for your organization. Features like audit trails and change logs help track user activity and prevent unauthorized data changes. Some systems provide granular levels of audit tracking, from login history to record modification, making it easier for your organization to detect potential abuse or unexpected patterns and changes.
Sometimes it doesn’t take a bad actor to cause a data security headache. A system with built-in backup and restore functionality gives you peace of mind in case of the unlikely event of data loss. Similarly, look for a loan management platform with a disaster recovery and incident response plan in place, including procedures for identifying, containing, and eradicating threats, as well as a process to keep customers informed of any security events that may affect their data.
Look for platforms that adhere to industry best practices and standards, such as SOC2 compliance. SOC2 compliance ensures that a company's information security measures meet rigorous standards and can adequately protect client data. If you’re managing your portfolio in spreadsheets, you’re at risk not only for basic data security issues, but also industry regulations and compliance.
A customer sends over important documents, and you hit “download.” Where does that information get stored? If it’s on your hard drive, you’re at risk. Storing sensitive customer data locally on a hard drive poses a significant data risk. Many small businesses lack private networks and rely on standard internet connections without encryption. This means that sensitive information transmitted over these networks is vulnerable to interception by cybercriminals. Files should be stored securely on password-protected drives requiring VPN or other additional level of security to reduce risk and increase security.
When you think “data security” you may think hackers and scammers. But threats to your customer data come from cyber attacks, disgruntled employees, and unexpected data losses alike. The best protection against data security concerns is to find a platform with security capabilities that cover everything from sign-on to storage to SOC2.
Thought Leadership
November 27, 2024
