Reasons why banks can benefit from backups

Banks and other financial institutions are organizations that interact with a significant number of consumers on a daily basis. Whether a person visits the physical bank location to deposit a check or tracks accounts through a mobile app, banks are a staple that govern a lot of what individuals are able to do. Financial institutions can benefit from backups for a few reasons, and they will need to seriously consider these systems if they wish to continue thriving.

Big target for data thieves

The financial sector is an area that's being hit particularly hard by data breaches. Everything from ransomware to phishing emails have been thrown at these organizations in the hopes of achieving a big payday, and some of the attacks have been successful. In early 2016, the U.S. Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council warned the industry about the flood of new threats stemming from ransomware. Infosecurity Magazine noted that most ransomware masquerades as an official-looking government sanction, and hackers gain $400,000 a month on average from using these techniques.

Personal financial data is a big target for hackers.

Many organizations end up paying the fine to gain back data access because they see no other alternative. However, backups are the best answer to these threats. Since ransomware encrypts everything on a particular device, banks can simply wipe the hardware and restore it to working order using their backups. This thwarts the attacker and prevents the business from having to pay anything to access its information.

Disaster can strike at anytime

Emergencies can come in many forms, and it will be important for financial institutions to be ready for anything. In 2002, the Federal Reserve made a point to establish regulations in this sector in order for these organizations to recover quickly from a Sept. 11-type event. Network World reported that this initiative stemmed from a widespread halt of Wall Street processes that came as a result of the Sept. 11 fallout. Wall Street was unable to get back online due to inadequate backup plans, which affected all of its interconnected systems. To make it worse, many other financial institutions that had been impacted had not tested their backup systems, leaving them in the dark as well.

Regulations regarding data storage, maintenance and security have been put in place since then to ensure that financial institutions protect their information and are able to get systems up faster in an emergency. Not only did the Federal Reserve suggest adding rules about testing backups industry-wide, it also recommended a required two-hour recovery time. These rules alone serve as the basis for many other standards across sectors and have changed how banks handle their files. However, organizations cannot allow themselves to become lax in their efforts, and must maintain vigilance with their backup solutions as more threats emerge.

Banks are an essential part of everyday life, but if data is compromised, it can affect a significant number of people. In order to protect this information, financial institutions should look into backup solutions. These systems not only can help companies bounce back from attacks, they can also minimize the effect of disasters and support business continuity.