Securing Your Bank

Securing Your Bank's Email with 4-Layer Protection

Securing Your Bank's Email with 4-Layer ProtectionImagine getting an urgent phone call from one of your bank employees or contractors, apologizing for the fact that they had just accidentally sent an email with a customer’s confidential account information to a random email address. Or worse, what if the phone call came from the random person who received and opened the email…both cases have very bad implications and pose a massive breach of privacy.

Well, according to Reuters, this actually happened on June 23rd 2014, when a contractor at Goldman Sachs sent an email containing confidential client data to a stranger's Gmail account by mistake.

This is by no means the first time such a mistake happened, it occurred also in the past with other banks, such as Rocky Mountain Bank in Wyoming, where according to various news reports and the court filing, a customer of Rocky Mountain Bank in Wyoming asked a bank employee to email loan statements to a third-party representative. Unfortunately, the bank employee sent the information to the wrong Gmail address. To make matters worse, the data file attached to the erroneously-sent email contained confidential information on 1,325 accounts of other customers. The file included names, addresses, tax identification numbers, and loan information.

While the above cases did not end up costing the bank money, in other cases, sending a wrong email may indeed inflict penalties and fines on the bank or even loss of revenue which can reach millions of dollars.

There are four main reasons why situations as described above may happen:

  • Entering the wrong email address – The bank’s email sender is not required to choose from a closed list of email addresses, and is allowed to enter manual email addresses. In addition, there is no validation of the email recipient. This means, the sender might accidently enter a wrong email address (as per the stories above), or even incidentally send an email to a forbidden recipient.
  • Outgoing emails are not scanned for sensitive data leakage - The content of the emails sent by the bank are not scanned to ensure sensitive information is not emailed (leaked out of the organization). This means email senders can add any information they wish into emails, including sensitive information and there is no system in place to prevent such information from leaving the organization.
  • Emails are unprotected - The email sent by the bank is sent unprotected, allowing the recipient to open the email without requiring any authentication and/or password. If a wrong recipient receives an email, there is no safe guard preventing them access to the information and attachment within the email.
  • Email content is unencrypted - The attachment and content of emails sent by the bank is sent unencrypted, allowing any recipient to not only open the email but also read the content. This is the last line of defense in terms of emails; and in many cases, organizations do not implement it in order to simplify the process of sending the email and the lack of willingness to manage encryption keys.

Banks who are aware of the above reasons for sending email to wrong recipients are looking today for solutions to prevent such grave mistakes from occurring, while maintaining their employees and contractors email sending routines and methods.

Such organizations should deploy a secure email solution which consists of multiple layers of defense which together provide multiple fail-safe points along the process of sending an email to bank’s customers and business partners. These layers should include the following:

  • 1st Layer: should ensure the secured email is only sent to an email address available within the bank’s CRM, thus, preventing the situation of sending the email to a recipient who is unknown to the financial organization. In case the bank does wish to allow entering email addresses manually, it should ensure it implements the additional layers with even higher importance.
  • 2nd Layer: should allow scanning the content of sent emails using a DLP (Data Loss Prevention) system to ensure sensitive data is not sent.
  • 3rd Layer: store the encrypted package within the bank’s network and send the recipient a link to download the package, rather than the email itself, as it happened in the cases mentioned above. In addition, a one-time password or username and password is then needed in order to access the email within the server. This layer of protection offers 2 factor authentication, and prevents un-allowed access to the content.
  • 4th Layer: should allow to automatically encrypt the entire content of the email, including the email’s body and attachment. Thus preventing the situation of sending an email to a wrong recipient and them opening the email and reading the content.

Deploying such a solution will allow bank employees and contractors to send encrypted emails securely to customers and business partners, without disrupting their normal email routines, and does not require the recipient to install software or exchange keys.

About the Author

Eitan Bremler is director product marketing and product management at Safe-T.

Featured

  • Allegion, Comfort Technologies Implement Mobile Credentials at the Artisan Apartment Homes in Florida

    Artisan Apartment Homes, a luxury apartment complex in Dunedin, Florida, recently transitioned from mechanical keys to electronic locks and centralized system software with support from Allegion US, a leading provider of security solutions, technology and services, and Florida-based Comfort Technologies, which specializes in deploying multifamily access control, IoT devices and software management solutions. Read Now

  • Mall of America Deploys AI-Powered Analytics to Enhance Parking Intelligence

    Mall of America®, the largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America, announced an expansion of its ongoing partnership with Axis Communications to deploy cutting-edge car-counting video analytics across more than a dozen locations. With this expansion, Mall of America (MOA) has boosted operational efficiency, improved safety and security, and enabled more informed decision-making around employee scheduling and streamlining transportation for large events. Read Now

  • Security Industry Association Launches New “askSIA” AI Tool

    The Security Industry Association (SIA) has unveiled a brand-new SIA member benefit – askSIA, a conversational AI agent designed to help users get the most out of their SIA membership, easily access SIA resources and find the latest information on SIA’s training and courses, reports and publications, events, certification offerings and more. SIA members can easily find askSIA by visiting the SIA homepage or looking for the askSIA icon in the top left of webpages. Read Now

    • Industry Events
  • Industry Embraces Mobile Access, Biometrics and AI

    A combination of evolving workplace dynamics, technology innovation and new user expectations is changing how people enter and interact with physical spaces. Access control is at the heart of these changes. Combined with biometrics and AI, mobile access control has become increasingly crucial for deploying entry solutions that are seamless, secure and adaptive to user needs. Read Now

  • Sustainable Video Solution Delivered for Landmark City of London Office Development

    An advanced, end-to-end video solution from IDIS, with a focus on reducing waste and costs, has helped a major office development in the City of London align its security with sustainability objectives. Read Now

New Products

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

    Connect ONE®

    Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

  • Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems, an industry-leading manufacturer of pedestrian and vehicle secure entrance control access systems, is pleased to announce the release of its groundbreaking V07 software. The V07 software update is designed specifically to address cybersecurity concerns and will ensure the integrity and confidentiality of Automatic Systems applications. With the new V07 software, updates will be delivered by means of an encrypted file.