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The majority of businesses today operate with a significant amount of technology. Computers are required for almost all operations, and they need to function at their best for employees to be productive and provide superior customer service.

With this in mind, you might be toying with the idea of outsourcing your IT tasks or upskilling your team to enjoy an in-house service. If you’re unsure which option will suit your business best, consider the following questions.

Do you have the Time for IT Problems?

When you work with the top managed service providers, there’s never any concern about whether you have time constraints. If you have an IT-related problem, you can contact your service provider any time of day and get them working on it right away. Indeed, the best MSPs will work proactively to prevent IT issues and address those that do arise before you have to pick up the phone.

If you decide to keep all IT-related services in-house, you have to ask yourself the question: do you really have the time for IT problems? If something catastrophic happens regarding your computer systems, will your team be able to manage their current workload and something new and possibly even more labor-intensive?

How many Computer Experts do you Have?

When you work with an IT service provider, you typically have access to more than one computer expert who can assist with all manner of technology-related issues. If that person isn’t available, there’s someone else to take the lead and solve your problems.

However, if you were to keep your IT in-house, it’s essential to consider whether you will always have someone to help with any issues that arise. If your go-to IT person is away, who will take over?

Is your Team Skilled Enough?

You might have an incredibly skilled team who understands the inner workings of your business and how to troubleshoot most problems thrown your way. When that’s the case, it’s easy to be lulled into a false sense of security, believing that they’ll be able to solve any IT-related problem.

However, it’s worth considering whether their skills are wide-ranging enough to combat complex software, hardware, and cybercrime-related issues. Sometimes, such problems call for experts in their field rather than business employees.

Will you Really be Saving Money?

Many business owners decide to keep their IT services in-house because they believe it will save them money. They hire a generalist IT expert and call upon them for every computer-related query or concern.

However, if you crunch the numbers, hiring a full-time IT expert might not be as cost-effective as you think. Some of the more complex computer problems can still require outside assistance, and you still need to cover all those costly employee-related expenses like training, wages, taxes, benefits, and more.

Do you have Time for Upskilling?

Technology is changing all the time, and the computer systems and software you’re using now might not be fit for purpose in just a few years. Do you have the resources to invest in keeping in-house employees continually updated and retrained on the latest technology?

When you outsource IT, you can rest assured that your service provider is already incredibly knowledgeable on the best and safest tech in the industry.

There’s no denying that in-house IT can be a valuable asset to any business. However, when you weigh up the pros and cons of in-house vs. outsourced, you might see that there’s also value in relying on external experts to assist with your technology-related queries and concerns.

As many industries increase their reliance on technology, cyber threats increase too. This rise in technology dependency provides cyber criminals with a vast field of targets to try and harvest data. Cyber attackers mainly prey on businesses with the most data that can achieve maximum impact and revenue.

Hence, it’s no surprise that the financial services sector faces a more significant cybersecurity threat than other sectors. This sector possesses massive customer databases and money. That is why, as a financial company, you must invest in cybersecurity tools and service providers.

Importance of Cybersecurity Service Providers

Some operators in the financial sector may not have the muscle and resources to deal with cybersecurity threats adequately. Others may feel that cybersecurity isn’t their primary operational mission.

Thus, experts recommend using managed security service providers (MSSP) to boost their data protection. With MSSP providers, you can have quality tools and an experienced workforce for effective cybersecurity. Consequently, using them can let your team focus on the business’s core operations.

Without the MSSPs, your network can face a higher risk of cyber-attack exposure. Data breaches and cyber-attacks can come from various threat angles. Below are some top cybersecurity threats to the financial services sector.

The Supply Chain Threat

As a financial service provider, you can depend on third-party vendors to help boost your services and improve customer satisfaction. However, you don’t fully control these vendors’ security systems. It can be a gateway for cybercriminals trying to penetrate your network.

The exchange between the vendors and clients can involve sharing, transferring, and storing sensitive data and information. If the vendors’ cybersecurity protocols are substandard, the client data will likely be breached.

You need the services of these vendors. However, you must protect yourself and your customers from threat exposure. To guard against supply chain threats, cybersecurity experts recommend implementing the zero-trust architecture (ZTA) and reinforcing the privileged access management (PAM) policies.

Distributed Denial of Service Threats

A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is a threat that attempts to overwhelm a victim’s website. It does this by flooding your number of online requests, making your server shut down, thus taking you offline. During the downtime, your cybersecurity team will likely be busy trying to restore services.

DDoS can create a chaotic environment among your cybersecurity team. This situation allows cybercriminals to initiate other attacks like ransomware. Thus, you may face a more significant problem when your network returns online.

Even if no other attack follows the DDoS one, the time you’re offline means your online financial services aren’t available to your customers. Thus, it can cost you your reputation. It can lead to significant losses as some clients may opt to drop your services altogether.

You can use protective tools or integrated preventative services to guard against DDoS attacks. For instance, using the remotely triggered back hole (RTBH) can help filter out traffic before it hits your network.

The Insider Threats

According to cybersecurity experts, an organization’s first line of defense is its team members. Suppose your team isn’t aware of cyber hygiene protocols, the risks of data breaches increase. Some insider threats include clicking phishing emails, using personal devices for work accounts or company devices for personal accounts, and having a poor password.

Additionally, staff members who have separated from the company can use their knowledge of the network vulnerabilities to aid cybercriminals. Accounts or devices that are no longer in use can also give a backdoor to cyberattacks. And this can happen if your cybersecurity team is not updating data using relevant data protection software.

These human-related actions create a significant challenge to the financial services sector. To help you minimize these threats, training your team members on cybersecurity best practices is vital. In addition, implement device use protocols. It could help ensure the team doesn’t use devices for the wrong accounts.

Whenever a team member exits the company, the account and devices related to the user should be deactivated and disconnected from the network.

Web Application Injections

Various financial services use web-hosted applications for reference or service delivery. These applications, however, present vulnerable entry points that hackers can use to access their networks. It is because web applications are easily accessible. Additionally, they’re user reliant. Therefore, your customers can unknowingly facilitate web application attacks.

Web application injection is one of the oldest cyber threats. Moreover, it has a vast attack surface making it even more dangerous. Some experts may refer to these injections as malware attacks because hackers use a code to trick a site into showing sensitive information. Examples of web application attacks include structured query language injections (SQLi) and cross-site scripting (XSS).

An attack from these injections can lead to data and monetary losses. Additionally, they can precede other attacks like DDoS and ransomware attacks.

Conclusion

As financial services carry large and sensitive data in their networks, cyber threats are an ever-present risk in their operations. The above are some of the top cybersecurity threats the sector faces constantly. It’s important to note that one threat can be used as a diversion for an extensive one. Thus, ensuring you have up-to-date cybersecurity protocols in your organization is crucial.

Nowadays, consumers need a good experience and convenience in terms of shopping. Everyone is extremely busy with jobs and families; therefore, they find it difficult to save time for shopping. You should not worry because location technologies have introduced innovative solutions and digital transformation across every walk of life.

Undoubtedly, technology is modernizing how businesses and consumers interact. You can do shopping in a few clicks without wasting your time and fuel. Consumers can access different tools to evaluate prices, locate stores, receive coupons and find alternatives. Indeed, everything is possible with a reliable location data platform.

Modern Retail

Location tech plays an important role in tech. However, retailers focus on improving customer relationships through marketing efforts, new directions, innovative business operations, and communications.

For instance, Adidas on Oxford Street, London, allows customers to choose and order products on their phones. When they enter the store, staff approaches them with their products. They are free to try, make changes, and purchase. Yet, location technology allows customers to find the right shops or directions to nearby stores.

Changing Relationships between Retailers and Consumers

Apps are accessible to everyone and allow retailers to connect with online customers. Brands can connect with customers without waiting for them to visit their shop. The latest technology allows businesses to engage with customers.

You can approach your customer everywhere to stay on their mind. The presence of an app on the phone of consumers reminds them about your brand. Moreover, location-enabled interactions help bring your customers back.

Increasing Personalized Customer Experience

Customers always want a relevant shopping experience. Now, technology has made new personalization standards. Latest marketing techniques are becoming popular to build a strong, loyal client base. Personalized mobile assistants for e-Commerce sites have better outcomes than automated services.

To offer the best services to customers, e-Commerce sites need new standards for customer service. Brands can use Twitter, Facebook, email, websites, and Instagram to connect with customers.

Location Technology in Agriculture

Location tracking proves helpful in monitoring crops, agricultural machinery tracking, and livestock maintenance. You can track wildlife, livestock, belongings, and pets with the help of GPS trackers. Additionally, this technology is equally beneficial in regional management through TeleCenses.

Several software tools are available to use satellite images for accurate demographic trends and estimates of the geo-localized population on a regional and local basis. City transit experts can use these technologies to track a commuter’s journey to identify efficiencies to improve travel and cut costs.

Fraud and Crime Prevention

A special fraud prevention system is based on location technology. Digital stores, delivery systems, and mobile networks are using this technology to confirm orders. Perhaps, banks offer advanced location-based services, including automated travel insurance.

Remember, insurers also need this information and collect it with GIS-based big data analysis. For city planners, this information is beneficial for planning infrastructure. Law enforcement also has similar technologies to evaluate data to forecast and detect crime.

Similarly, food delivery, casual gig-economy jobs, and ride-sharing plans depend on advanced location technologies.

The cyber-world is growing, and so is the crime rate. Sadly, many people dedicate their time to sending phishing letters to targets, including employees. Teams in any company are the weakest link. Many of them might struggle to notice signs of a phishing email. That could lead to many unfortunate incidents, like giving confidential information or credentials access.

Moreover, these cybercriminals target every type of company, big or small, as its success depends on employee resistance. So, it becomes crucial to learn how to keep the business safe from internet threats.

If you want your company to be safe, the best thing to do is train your employees in cybersecurity. We have prepared some helpful tips for ensuring that your employees get the best education regarding cybersecurity.

Talk to Your Employees

The first step is to stay calm if your employee makes a mistake. It is straightforward to fall for a fraud email without the proper knowledge. Blaming the employee reflects the company’s inability to invest in its security.

Instead, make sure the employees understand the importance of cybersecurity training. Convey your message in simple words so that even the non-technical department people can understand. Make them know their importance in preventing the company’s loss. No one wants to be the victim of a personal system security breach or home network intrusion.

Be Acquainted with the Latest Types of Fraud

Learning the potential fraud scenarios is a crucial part of the education process. Keep an eye out for these five types of cybercrimes that hamper the workings of any organization.

Companies can also learn from experts that organize seminars or summits to introduce the latest cybersecurity techniques. Such information can later be spread to other employees.

Phishing

Many people fall into the trap of attractive phishing offers like ‘your million-dollar lottery is just a click away.’ Do not give away your personal information online, no matter how official it may look.

Data Breach

Sensitive information leaks can be very devastating to the company. Such data breaches often occur due to poor firewalls on the system or manual mistakes. They may attack the system in the form of malware or phishing emails.

Cyber Extortion

Any data breach may lead to extortion of money in exchange for valuable data. The hackers can log you out of your system till the payment is made.

Identity Theft

It happens when you see any online activity done in your name without your knowledge. The most common reason to use someone else’s credentials is to conduct financial identity theft.

Harassment

It usually affects small businesses. Multiple negative comments from an online bully can affect the sales of any business. If this happens, know your rights, report the user, and keep evidence of all the comments.

Emphasize the Importance of using Company Laptops

It is easy to detect fraud on a company’s system while working in the office. These laptops have appropriate security patches and use a secure Wi-Fi network. But, when a person is working from home or in a public area using their system, it becomes tough to track the cause of fraud.

Focus on teaching your employees the importance of using a Virtual Private Network while working from a cafe. A VPN can encrypt internet traffic, preventing data leaks, interception, and theft. It also cloaks online activities from potential snoopers. A VPN download should also be recommended if employees use personal computers. It means that both corporate and personal tasks happen on the same device. The best solution would be to avoid this. However, if BYOD is a part of one’s company culture, recommend the best tools for staying safe.

Apart from using a VPN, make a strict rule of using only work login credentials so that all the individual activities can be tracked. Make sure your employees use secure login processes and multi-factor authentication.

Keep an Eye for Suspicious Activities

Make it a habit to look for any changes in the system before starting work every day. These can be minor changes like the following:

• An extra plugin on the internet browser.
• The keyboard or mouse is getting stuck.
• Pop-ups while turning on or off the system.
• Unknown file on the desktop.
• Sudden shut down of the system.

Inform your employees to report any minor changes. It is better to deal with a false alarm than ignore a real threat.

Give your Employees Cybersecurity Lessons

Do not just shove all the information related to cybersecurity in one email. Corporate employees deal with multiple emails every day, and this vital email will lose its importance. Instead, introduce cybersecurity into everyday talk. Spread out the information into several interactive emails. It will help the employees to retain the knowledge in the long run.

Above all, professional training is critical to understanding the jargon of the world of cyber security. Invest in your employees as they are the backbone of your company.

Conduct seminars, quizzes, and online courses to keep your employees updated about cybersecurity.

Conduct Surprise Drills

No amount of information or training will be helpful if the person cannot apply them in a time of crisis. It is essential to conduct mock drills periodically to ensure the information taught is retained. These drills prepare people for real-life fraud and keep them updated on the hackers’ new tactics.

In the End

As the famous saying goes, better safe than sorry should be implemented into the company’s core teachings. Cybercriminals are finding new tactics to gain access to confidential information in different companies. Investing in cybersecurity training for your employees and regularly updating their knowledge can help you run your organization smoothly.