The word ‘Fintech’ comes from finance and technology. It uses specialized software/algorithms to make financial operations and processes easy for businesses and individuals. With cloud computing, better analytics, and API, fintech has improved the services from existing BFSI businesses. It has also created new categories and businesses that have started from the ground up looking at technology first to solve a financial problem vs traditional businesses that adopt technology later to solve the existing financial problem.
Today, we can carry out cashless transactions, and access our bank accounts from anywhere. From the first ATM machine to online banking and now cryptocurrencies, fintech has evolved significantly and continues to disrupt the financial industry. However, the massive amounts of sensitive data handled by fintech companies makes them a sought-after target for hackers.
The Economic Times BFSI Innovation Tribe Awards & Summit brought together some of the industry’s leading experts to discuss the security challenges that fintechs face today and the ways to tackle them.
Application Security for FinTechs – Challenges and Importance
Cloud Security: Cloud adoption among enterprises has been increasing steadily over the past few years and is now growing at its fastest rate ever due to the covid-19 pandemic. However, with greater expenditure on cloud services, comes greater responsibility for businesses to invest wisely in appropriate security measures to keep their customers safe. This is where the shared security model comes in. In a shared security model, the cloud service providers hold up their end of the security responsibility which includes physical facilities, utilities, cables, and hardware, while you take care of the remaining security like network controls, identity and access management, application configurations, and data.
Business Continuity: It is imperative that fintechs have a business continuity plan in case of unforeseen emergencies so that they can continue to perform critical operations. The business continuity risks for such businesses are very high, owing to the serious nature of the business and the amount of sensitive data they handle every day.
Trust and Transparency: Trust is of utmost importance in fintechs. Consumers can be sceptical and will only trust you when they are sure that their data is safe. 2020 saw the largest number of records exposed in a single year since 2005. This underlines the pressing need for a robust security program for fintechs. Additionally, meeting application security and compliance requirements can go a long way in earning customer trust. It has also shown that consumer trust goes up with increasing transparency from businesses.
Watch the Fireside Chat with Biswabrata Chakroborty – CIO at IndusInd Bank, and Krishnan Parameswaran – Co-Founder and CTO at Namaste Credit, moderated by Ashish Tandon – Founder and CEO at Indusface, where they discuss the importance of security for success in the fintech industry.
How to Address AppSec Challenges
Take ownership of your security: Major attacks on your fintech business can compromise your integrity. As a business owner, it is your responsibility to make application security the core of your business planning and product roadmap.
Partner with experts: Partnering with a managed security service provider can give your business an advantage over others. An MSSP can help you identify your vulnerabilities, assess, and prioritize them so that you can act on them proactively. You’ll also have a team of security experts always ready to support you and develop an effective, long-term security strategy for your business.
AppSec for Digital Immunity: Just as a vaccine strengthens your immune system, a robust AppSec program hardens your digital immunity against threat actors. Conduct regular security assessments, patch vulnerabilities, deploy an intelligent web application firewall, and partner with a managed security service provider to continuously monitor your IT environment. Remember that technology and innovation cannot be assets to your business without a strong security strategy.
Learn more about how application security can be an essential ‘vaccination’ for the digitization initiatives of your fintech business, in the keynote speech by Venkatesh Sundar, Founder & CMO at Indusface.
Conclusion
Fintech has emerged as a revolutionary technology in the BFSI industry, and it is only going to continue influencing the industry. As a fintech business, your priority must be to make your platform safer for customers thereby encouraging fintech adoption. Fintech Experts like Indusface and other industry players can meet the security needs while organisations focus on their growth.
Watch this video on The FinTech AppSec Playbook by Venkatesh Sundar, Founder & CMO at Indusface, as he shares a blueprint of application security best practices, and implementation tips consolidated based on cutting-edge industry insights.
