The banking and financial sector needs to be constantly prepared to manage and mitigate an increasing range of security risks from fraud and anti-social behavior to data mismanagement. Organizations must anticipate such potential risks and have well-established plans in place to address them, properly protecting employees, customers, financial data, operations and assets.
The banking and financial sector needs to be constantly prepared to manage and mitigate an increasing range of security risks from fraud and anti-social behavior to data mismanagement. Organizations must anticipate such potential risks and have well-established plans in place to address them, properly protecting employees, customers, financial data, operations and assets.
Globalization, increasingly sophisticated criminals and easy access to new technologies have led to a major increase in the number of threats to banks and financial organizations. As a result, security has become far more than just protection against physical theft and anti-social behavior. Financial organizations need to have strict control over who has access to data, and be able to account for every transaction, while protecting their staff and customers.
Saving time and money 
The general nature of large enterprise structures makes it difficult to integrate disparate security solutions into one central system. Today's financial organizations do require integrated security solutions, as combining access control with video surveillance and intrusion detection for both corporate headquarters and branch offices provides major technical and business benefits. Some of the latest intelligent video analytics help protect perimeters and prevent intrusion, while providing behavioral analysis capabilities to predict and prevent criminal activity.
Whether engaging in threat/risk assessment, analyzing behavioral patterns, or simply completing background checks on employees, such integrated security technology gives financial organizations maximum control over users, ensuring that their people, assets and facilities operate successfully.
In access control, “one card” solution particularly benefits financial organizations with a global footprint. By incorporating multiple functions such as building entry and electronic purse access onto a single card, this technology reduces the need to carry several different cards or ID badges. Additionally, an integrated audio verification facility enables quick analysis of an alarm source and cause, reducing false alarms and boosting reliability. Some systems can also use communication paths such as PSTN, ISDN or Ethernet to perform dual-alarm signaling functions.
Easier and more affordable migration
Market feedback has shown a continued emphasis on ROI and value for money, particularly in the current economic climate. Full integration is often the ultimate goal of customers, but many cannot afford to buy completely new security systems all together. Phased migration gives customers the maximum possible choice when purchasing new systems and ensures that the migration to a new, integrated security solution is as smooth and trouble-free as possible.
Fulfilling logical access control, information security and other regulatory requirements is equally critical, for financial organizations to be in compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, the Financial Services Act and a variety of other national financial regulations. Integrated identity management allows organizations to grant or deny access to sensitive areas and IT systems depending on whether the user has badged into a specific area, and it also supports the rigorous implementation of corporate password security policies via single sign-on solutions. This not only helps prevent external and internal threats, but also provides the full audit capability necessary to meet compliance requirements.
Delivering a complete security solution that easily migrates and integrates disparate systems can give a competitive advantage to financial organizations in today's economic climate. By integrating security systems throughout their network, organizations can attain the highest levels of protection for their customers and employees, creating a safe and secure environment to work and invest in.