Do you believe the full title? Or do you believe the parenthetic comments are a better descriptor? Here’s a simple and universal truth of the human condition: we tend to avoid tasks we think will be hard. Or complicated. Or time consuming. Or all three!

Financial institutions have long viewed user access reviews as a double edged sword. On one hand, regulators require them. They’re a crucial component in managing to least privilege. But they’re a challenge to conduct on a regular schedule. And if you have to rely on legacy technology and outdated manual processes, the frustrations can compound logarithmically.

But you don’t need to be stuck in the past. Help is on the way.

User access reviews are important. They also tend to be a complex, time-consuming task. When you add the regulatory and cybersecurity insurance expectations about these reviews and how often they really should be completed, it gets worse. Finally, to complete the picture, you may have to rely on legacy systems or tedious manual processes. It all adds up to one big “ouch.”

Cybersecurity insurance is an increasingly important component of your financial institution’s overall information security program. When a data breach or other hostile technology event occurs, cybersecurity insurance proceeds can provide funds to repair your hardware, recover intellectual property, and even pay for the work you do to reverse adverse reputational impacts.

Alpharetta, GA (November 8, 2022) - Finosec announced that the user access reporting process no longer needs to be labor intensive or complicated, thanks to their User Access Reporting solution. The Finosec solution operates smoothly in tandem with financial institutions and supports more than 100 financial systems and has reviewed more than 11 million user permissions.

Bank examiners and auditors constantly change their expectations. The result is you feel as if your information security practices are trying to hit a moving target while the boundaries shift constantly.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month occurs in October. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) created it to increase general awareness of emerging online threats and how best to avoid them.

User Access

There are likely a high number of systems in place at your institution. Running a successful financial institution relies heavily on tools and technologies that will improve the efficiencies of you and your team.

In a video released to FINOSEC Academy, Co-Founder and CEO, Zach Duke, poses some questions around the processes you currently have in place at your institution. Regardless of which department you think of first, it is likely that some outdated processes are still in place, and your information security and cyber security teams are no exception.

Understanding examiner expectations and knowing how to train your team and board on information security is important. You and your team need to know where the risks are and where regulators are focused based on those risks.