The consolidation of systems and efforts to achieve standardisation across organisations has become increasingly important for financial organisations to achieve greater control and lower the risk of cyberattacks, says industrial technology firm Johnson Controls Africa building efficiency GM Neil Cameron.

High levels of digital disruption in the financial sector have prompted new business models to emerge, ushering in new, more digital and virtual means of engaging with customers, as well as a bigger focus on customer experience. This has made securing the business, its assets, people and customers a multifaceted challenge.

“Whether in a small town or a major city centre, every branch of a bank has the same level of risk because each provides access to the bank’s core systems. Security, thus, must be applied in a consistent manner across geographies and facilities, regardless of relative perceptions of risk,” he says.

Financial institutions have substantial footprints, large distribution networks, sizeable staff complements and multiple large data centres. Information technology continues to develop rapidly, yet financial organisations must incorporate their legacy systems.

“With multiple protocols and formats to accommodate, a standardised environment – for example where end-to-end encryption is enabled – is vital,” he explains.

Financial organisations require that the solutions they select can evolve rapidly, integrate easily with other systems and be flexible, adapting to the changing needs of the business.

Further, with increasing threats to organisations’ data, assets and people, it is critical that the security systems in place can manage identity and access by placing one consistent layer of protection across the organisation, regardless of facility type or geography.

An effective standardised system will ensure that each employee needs only a one single security card that will grant access to specific areas based on the employee’s security clearance level. It must also work at a logical level, denying network access to someone who tries to sign in from one location while being logged in at another.

As physical, logical and virtual systems continue to converge, having a single consistent risk and security policy is important, he says.

“Ensuring that security systems are open, integrate easily with other systems, and evolve constantly, enabling the organisation to use new and emerging technologies, will enable banks to secure their people, customers and assets in physical and virtual environments,” concludes Cameron.