Improving IT Security Management for Financial Services

Case-Study: Financial Services Industry

Private Equity firm located in Southern California

Problem
For businesses in the financial sector, IT security is not a luxury—it’s a necessity. A company in the finance sector came to us because their current in-house IT resource was not capable of providing the level of expertise needed for a growing company with increasing demands for data protection due to stricter compliance standards and requirements from their financial partners.

"The first step to reduce up to 98% of your cybersecurity risk is an IT infrastructure assessment performed by a certified expert"

Infrastructure Assessment
Improving their security began with an IT infrastructure assessment. We looked at how their existing systems were set up and identified areas that needed improvement or weren’t compliant with industry standards. This included evaluating the performance of their network and servers as well as assessing their current security measures. Once we had a comprehensive understanding of their current system, we could then move on to making recommendations on how to improve it operationally.  

Compliance Consulting
For companies in the finance sector, compliance is of utmost importance. We provided our client with compliance consulting services that included helping them develop policies and procedures for handling data securely. We also worked with them to ensure that all their systems met industry standards for privacy and data protection so that they could maintain a high level of trust among customers and other stakeholders.

“Our IT Health Assessment uses benchmarks we refer to as ‘IT Table Stakes’ because they are required to protect businesses from threats in today’s world” says Robert Praul, DivergeIT’s Technology Director. There are 26 benchmarks, and this company only scored a 31%. Praul continues, “Most SMBs and IT teams don’t know the right questions to ask to even start to determine where they stand with their IT health.”

Assessment Findings

While our client passed in areas like Endpoint Protection, Security Awareness Training and Backups Performed, they were surprised to learn some of the key areas they failed in:

• Password Management

• Mult-Factor Authentication

• Data Encryption

• Cyber Security Insurance

• Patch Management

Recommended Solutions
After completing the infrastructure assessment and benchmarking their IT health, we made specific recommendations for improving their IT security and operations. Our recommendations included automating patch management, encryption technologies, user authentication methods, as well as setting up processes for monitoring activity on networks and servers to detect any potential threats quickly.

The Result
Our client was able to greatly improve their IT management and security thanks to our expert guidance and assistance throughout this process. By performing an infrastructure assessment followed by compliance consulting before recommending solutions tailored specifically to meet the needs of this financial services company, we were able to provide them with everything they needed to better protect their data while continuing operations without disruption or delay.

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