Banks store, process and transfer vast amounts of sensitive consumer data. This may include financial information, credit card data, personally identifiable information (PII), loan details and transaction data. Since these types of sensitive data are critical to business processes or subject to regulatory compliance mandates, they need to be protected.
In the banking and financial industry, information security isn’t just a corporate policy or regulatory requirement. It can also be your key differentiator. Many customers in the financial industry value trustworthiness more than almost any other attribute. If you can demonstrate a superior ability to protect customer data, both existing and potential customers will entrust you with not just their data, but also their financial transactions and long-term investments.
That being said, in today's complex banking environment, maintaining customer trust through robust data security presents numerous technical and operational challenges.
Due to their possession of high-value data, reliance on technology and critical role in the financial sector, banks are constantly exposed to cybersecurity risks. Cybercriminals will always have the incentive, means and opportunity to target banking institutions, making data security initiatives difficult.
Whenever you handle financial data, personal data or any sensitive information that cybercriminals can monetize, you automatically become a prime target for data breaches. For example, identity theft operators who use stolen personal data to commit fraud will want to get hold of your bank’s stockpile of customer information.
Banks increasingly depend on advanced technologies to deliver seamless customer experiences, streamline operations and manage massive volumes of financial transactions. Unfortunately, these technologies are often accompanied by vulnerabilities that expand your attack surface and leave you open to a wide range of cyberattacks.
Banks play a critical role in the financial ecosystem. Any disruptions to your banking operations can impact other organizations that transact directly or indirectly with you. Threat actors can take advantage of this interdependence by holding your bank hostage through disruptive cyber attacks, such as ransomware infections or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and then demanding ransom. Once your operations are crippled, it would be hard not to pay up.
These factors complicate risk management and other cybersecurity initiatives for protecting data. You can reduce that complexity by using JSCAPE by Redwood.
JSCAPE is a managed file transfer solution that you can use as an on-premises server application or a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) for enabling and managing all banking-related file transfers. It enables you to set up, manage and monitor secure, automated file transfer workflows from a single pane of glass.
And, because JSCAPE comes with a robust low-code/no-code automated workflow builder, you can automate practically any file transfer task without writing a single line of code. In addition to automation and data security functionality, which we’ll cover in the next section, JSCAPE also has built-in high availability (HA) and scalability features that allow you to support high-volume data transfers without compromising performance.
As a trusted solution in the banking industry, JSCAPE delivers the robust security and reliability needed to support everything from complex institutional transfers to daily online banking operations.
JSCAPE provides an extensive array of features to ensure data protection and reduce security risks. Some of those features include the following:
Traditional file transfer software, such as FTP servers or SFTP servers, don’t have these capabilities built-in. Thus, in order to secure your data, you would have to deploy additional security solutions and integrate them with your file transfer environment. This approach introduces additional complexity, cost and administrative overhead.
In addition to cybersecurity benefits, JSCAPE offers operational, administrative and technical benefits as well.
All these benefits make a compelling case for implementing JSCAPE in your banking operations. Here are some of the steps you can take to implement it.
When implementing JSCAPE in banking and financial services, taking a structured approach to ensure seamless integration with existing processes and compliance with regulatory standards.
Identify key use cases. Determine your specific processes that require managed file transfer (e.g., interbank settlements, customer file exchanges, compliance reporting, EOD batch proccesses and so on). Ensure alignment with regulations that govern your organization. In addition, you must also consider not just current, but also future file transfer volume as well as peak transaction periods.
Choose between on-premises or cloud-based SaaS deployments based on your bank’s infrastructure, regulatory requirements and geographical operations. If you prefer a hybrid environment to balance control and flexibility, you can leverage JSCAPE’s built-in support for mixed deployment models.
Once your JSCAPE deployment is up and running in a staging or test environment, configure the secure file transfer protocols you need to exchange data with other organizations. This may include:
It’s also at this stage where you set up JSCAPE’s security measures. For instance, you would typically define user roles and access controls, set up DLP and configure password policies.
Connect JSCAPE with the applications and cloud-based services involved in your file transfer processes. You can use either JSCAPE’s API or built-in connectors for this purpose. At the same time, you can also start setting up automated file transfer workflows using JSCAPE’s low-code/no-code automated workflow builder.
Conduct end-to-end testing of workflows. Check for accuracy and reliability. Simulate high-traffic scenarios to evaluate potential performance during peak periods. You can use JSCAPE MFT Monitor for this purpose.
Provide trainings and workshops for IT administrators who will be in charge of managing your MFT environment. Come up with a response plan for potential issues, such as failed transfers, system downtime or security incidents, and orient your admins on it. You must also train end-users on secure file transfer and file sharing best practices.
Once the MFT infrastructure has been fully deployed in your production environment, use JSCAPE’s logging and reporting tools to monitor system performance, detect anomalies and generate audit reports. Regularly review workflows and security policies to identify areas for optimization, automation opportunities and security gaps. Leverage JSCAPE’s scalability features to handle growth in transaction volumes or adapt to changing business needs.
Considering the technical, regulatory and operational complexities in banking file transfers, ensuring data security can be quite a challenge. JSCAPE eliminates many of those complexities with an all-in-one secure and automated file transfer solution. Don’t just take our word for it, though — request a quick demo to see for yourself.