Conquering Enterprise Security Risks In Banks

The expansion of digital ecosystems in financial services is proliferating rapidly. The pace is high, and with technology penetrating every spectrum of operations, be it front, middle, or back office, they are being exposed to newer vulnerabilities that are growing in millions. This puts financial institutions at high risk of welcoming sophisticated attacks.

We know hackers are opportunistic. The digital landscape is their playground, and along with growth in remote and distributed work environments, customer-facing applications, and expanding networks, the entire enterprise technology environment needs to be secured for complex attacks.

This guide gives you a structured, inclusive approach and sheds new light on how to transform vulnerability management practices and why you should warrant the shift to secure your value chain.

Vulnerability Challenges in Banks

Vulnerability management is core to cyber resilience in banks. It is critical to plan and determine the suitable implementation of security controls and in managing risks. With banks remaining the most attacked industry, their complicated, disparate technology infrastructure is an ideal playground for attackers. Legacy ways of dealing with vulnerabilities can slow down the process of remediating vulnerabilities and increase the chances of breach.

Here is a quick look at the most common vulnerabilities in banks:

1. Legacy systems and outdated software
   Increased risk exposure due to lack of upgrades, scarce availability of security fixes, inability to implement additional layers of security, and to comply with the latest regulatory requirements
2. Complex IT infrastructure
   Most multifaceted IT ecosystems weren’t designed with security in mind, which leads to vulnerabilities that are not easy to detect and remediate, slack in the frequency of upgrades, insecure endpoints and data centers, shadow IT and unmonitored devices.
3. Poor compliance
   Inability to monitor security controls to meet challenges of changing threat landscape, sophistication in attacks, expansion in attack surface due to growth in endpoints, ever-changing IT landscape, distributed environments, and multiple regulations.
4. Unpatched OS and firmware
   Increased chances of compromise due to lack of secure OS and firmware updates and reinforcements for Windows, Linux, macOS.
5. Unauthorized devices
   Lack of visibility of shadow IT. Devices used remotely might be lacking in security updates and can have unpatched vulnerabilities.
6. Misconfigurations
   Typical misconfigurations include default accounts/passwords, deprecated protocols, open databases, unprotected files/directories, unused features, and open directories.
7. Endpoint and server flaws
   Inability to monitor endpoint settings and controls, detect security deviations, exposures, and anomalies, block malicious applications, and reduce attack surface.
8. Data center risks
   Lack of visibility of users, devices, networks, applications, workloads, and processes, and delayed patch cycles leading to unpatched applications.
9. Insecure cloud workloads
   Poorly configured workloads, policy violations, excessive privileges, lack of workload visibility, and inability to terminate malicious functionalities.

Why do these challenges exist?

Most banks use multiple tools for vulnerability management. The fragmented approach can reduce scale due to cumbersome processes and amplify security posture risks with increasing vulnerabilities.

Some of the other reasons include:

1. Lack of single console dashboard view of vulnerabilities leading to inability to track and remediate them.
2. Inability to get clarity of infrastructure asset inventory, leading to lack of protection of critical unidentified assets.
3. Unable to accurately & efficiently prioritize vulnerability risks based on asset criticality, exploit availability, severity, and scope.
4. Hastiness in remediating vulnerabilities randomly due to a lack of accurate prioritization, leaving many critical vulnerabilities unpatched, making way for multi-stage attack risks.
5. No continuous, high-speed, automated scans leading to vulnerability remediation backlogs, false positives, human errors, and lack of effectiveness.
6. Difficult to comprehend reports, which undermines remediation and slows down decision-making.
7. Pressure to reduce or contain costs across the IT environment through automation.
8. Inability to improve SecOps efficiencies.
9. Inability to demonstrate compliance with PCI DSS, ISO/IEC 27001, GDPR, SEBI, and RBI standards.

This can lead to weaker defenses and can keep the system broken. Patching won’t be continuous and proactive, prolonging the exposure of the attack surface.

Maturing the Vulnerability Management Model in Banks

The weakness can be a condition that, if exploited by a threat, can compromise the asset which has the weakness to an attack. Once enhanced using CVEM, the process can strengthen the critical services of the banks and the various assets that support the service. When the vulnerability management process reaches the aspired maturity state, it can scan, detect, and prioritize the vulnerabilities from a business context, highlight the impact caused by exploiting a vulnerability risk associated with it, and remediate vulnerabilities through a unified and automated platform approach.

Though the central idea of all these environments is to mitigate cyber risks, only an integrated platform approach can be confirmed as reliable security practice, which can be regarded as a holistic function that falls under the larger context of vulnerability management. It enables a risk-based approach to vulnerability management by incorporating reliable threat intelligence, which can provide a broader insight into how and why attackers might target certain vulnerabilities. By bringing in maximal visibility into vulnerabilities, it gives clarity to make more informed decisions.

The goal is to reach the 5th tier

The integrated platform approach is the greatest savior against vulnerabilities as it has marshaled the capabilities for end-to-end vulnerability management. It overcomes the bleak uncertainties of other tools and can break through the vulnerability clutter.

Here are the different stages in how banks can gauge their vulnerability management program effectiveness by categorizing their current capabilities and maturing their program for the greater good. The integrated platform represents the advanced, augmented stage of vulnerability management, which is aligned with risk reduction targets, threat trends, and compliance goals.

1st tier (Nascency)
Fledgling. Living in innocence.

This bank is a goldmine for attackers, as the system is overflowing with vulnerabilities, which can easily be exploited. These firms react by patching only what they know, not interested in preventing them in the long run. There is confusion and inefficiency in the vulnerability management process, and there is no end-to-end visibility to fix vulnerabilities. It’s time to face the world.

2nd tier (Launch)
Aware. With bare essentials.

Though aware of the importance of reducing vulnerabilities, these banks do have the policies and guidelines to bring sanity to vulnerability management. The senior management does not have clarity on the risk reduction goals; processes are people-driven and time-consuming, making it hard to demonstrate compliance. It’s time to improve.

3rd tier (Stabilize)
Firm. Not combat-ready yet.

There is a realization that vulnerabilities must be prioritized and addressed, but outdated ways of prioritizing vulnerabilities, more time to remediate, more dependencies on external data sources making remediation more risky, poor customer experience due to disruption while patching. It’s time to become stronger.

4th tier (Emerge)
Resilient. Arsenal needs to be updated.

With the vulnerability management program established, there is renewed vigor to take vulnerabilities seriously and fix them. However, siloed tools are still in use, leading to longer remediation times. There are still manual interventions, a lack of collaboration between IT & Sec teams, and challenges in attaining compliance. There is, however, some robustness in security posture due to continuous patching efforts. It’s time to be invincible.

5th tier (Augment)
Superpower. Battle ready. Raring to go.

The stage you want to be. The entire vulnerability management program is continuous, fully automated, and integrated – from scanning, detection, prioritization, and remediation. No need for additional software, hardware, or plug-ins. The prioritization is based on industry standard guidelines, leading to faster remediation times, ranging from months to minutes. Scans happen quickly and automated, there is perfect coordination between IT & Sec teams, and compliance is a breeze. Now, you can deliver vulnerability management assurance to all stakeholders.

The 5th tier privileges

This tier isn’t a futuristic state. It’s an achievable state now. When you have an

integrated platform, it places IT & Sec teams in a better position on the tactical aspects of vulnerability management. With its superior reconnaissance abilities, it can enable you with proactive, automated, continuous remediation of vulnerabilities, address high-risk vulnerabilities at speed and scale, and reduce the time required to fix these vulnerabilities.

The intent of this platform is not to reduce vulnerabilities. Rather, it is to remove them. You will be able to tackle any amount of vulnerability backlogs as it is a structured approach to making informed choices in addressing vulnerabilities. You can also drill down information about vulnerabilities, including your assets and resources, and analyze data from vulnerabilities, threats, and assets to determine the likelihood of them getting exploited.

Prioritize the ones having the highest risk and continuously monitor the effectiveness of the remediation efforts. The platform shifts the mindset from a reactive, patch-focused approach to a proactive, risk-focused approach. There is reduced time to remediate vulnerabilities due to improved risk evaluation and better accuracy in addressing vulnerabilities.

More importantly, the risks are assessed and remediated in real time, helping you to get ahead of threats. The entire vulnerability management process is automated to build scale to your risk management program, enhancing your ability to adapt to newer risks while sustaining the efficiency of your vulnerability management processes.

Saner CVEM

The only CVEM platform in the 5th tier

Saner CVEM puts forward an advanced, comprehensive model of vulnerability management to overcome the liabilities of siloed tools by including capabilities to overcome risk and establish resilience.

The platform underscores the importance of integrated ways of dealing with risks. It adopts a layered security approach and implements preventive security controls to protect assets better.

With the power of proactive, continuous, automated scanning capabilities, Saner CVEM can detect and assess vulnerabilities and prioritize them quickly in real-time. It unifies asset visibility, normalization, vulnerability scanning, risk prioritization, patch management, endpoint management, and compliance management into one single platform to strengthen infrastructure security.

It overcomes the challenges of siloed tools with combined capabilities, helping you get accustomed to tactically taking on vulnerabilities on a larger scale and at speed. Saner CVEM can strengthen defensive security measures and reduce the breach capabilities of an attack. The solution also gives a broader line of sight to ensure complete visibility of every vulnerability across the IT infrastructure.

Platform Architecture

Saner CVEM covers every vulnerability management need. It has seven modules driven by one agent.

These modules optimize defensive layers and reduce risk smartly. There is no need for any additional investments or build controls everywhere. You can reach your target risk appetite at a lower cost.

• Asset Exposure
  Run real-time, live scans of devices, get an end-to-end view of IT asset inventory, discover rarely used applications, blacklist software, track software licenses, and ensure audit readiness.
• Posture Anomaly Management
  Discover posture anomalies, uncover your IT environment truth, shadow IT, misconfigured controls, and standardize IT for good. Vulnerability Management. Run automated scans with a lightweight agent, detect vulnerabilities causing high-fidelity attacks, and manage vulnerability from a single, cloud-based console.
• Compliance Management
  Run compliance scans, address configuration drifts, align with compliance regulations, monitor remote devices, detect non-compliant devices, remediate risks, restore compliance, and simplify reporting.
• Risk Prioritization
  Rapidly prioritize risks based on business context by using the world’s first SSVC-driven prioritization framework, reduce exploitable attack surface and gain exhaustive visibility to risks, get insights into security risks, customize and configure prioritization based on org structure.
• Patch Management
  Ensure continuous, customizable patch scans to find missing patches, test and approve patches, cover OS and third-party application patches, roll back feature for error-prone patching, prioritize patch deployment and tighten security.
• Endpoint Management
  Monitor and assess 100+ endpoint health controls in real-time, in-built software repository to schedule and deploy software, continuous system health monitoring, apply security controls across endpoints, block malicious apps, tune up systems, disable rogue devices, and fix deviations and anomalies.

Why Saner CVEM rules the 5th tier

With its intelligent automation capabilities, Saner CVEM is the next wave of efficiency in the vulnerability and exposure management process. It goes beyond cost savings to better manage repeatable tasks and standardize process flows.

• Reduction in siloed, manual/semi-automated vulnerability management systems
• Decrease in false positive rates
• Enrichment in accuracy & reliability to remediate vulnerabilities with zero variance
• Impact on strategic security outcomes by meeting riskreduction targets
• Improvement in process standardization, speed, and scale
• Assurance of an end-to-end frictionless process
• Enhancement in managing asynchronous, time-consuming prioritization & patching

How SanerNow helps banks enable better board alignment for cyber governance: The 5th tier advantage

Saner CVEM gives banks a logical conduit through which they can oversee how vulnerability risks are being managed and controlled. It gives clarity on how the platform is a strategic fit in their enterprise risk management efforts and in sustaining compliance. Banks will be able to understand the criticality of each vulnerability and the steps that must be taken to remediate it.

Saner CVEM helps in overcoming cyber concerns for the board:

• Rightly orientate cybersecurity strategy by gaining clarity of security risks.
• Distil top management’s risk-reduction targets into a precise, pragmatic implementation program.
• Visibility into the current status quo of IT security operations for CIO and CISO.
• Ensure every business function shares a common way of thinking about vulnerabilities.
• Optimize defensive layers and protect critical assets to stay productive.
• No need to “build controls” everywhere,” reduce risks smartly.
• No overinvestments, reach target risk appetite at a lower cost.
• Report on how cyber efforts have reduced enterprise risk.

Be a future-ready bank. Step into the 5th tier. Modernize security operations.

Saner CVEM helps banks with the necessary capabilities imperative to modernize security operations. The platform seamlessly fits into strategic security initiatives and removes any risk of business disruptions during remediation. It helps you achieve significant value and clarity in security posture, even if vulnerabilities proliferate.

Here is how SanerNow can reimagine vulnerability management along with its critical areas of impact.

• Quantitative risk-based approach to IT & Risk management. Get a numerical score for security posture
  Decrease enterprise risk. Measure and report reduction of risk. Know the status quo through actionable metrics.
• Automate vulnerability management. Remove chances of human mistakes.
  Continuous, fully automated scan and remediation with no manual interventions.
• Security at speed. Detect & remediate vulnerabilities quickly.
  Machine learning, statistical analysis, and deviation computation methods to gain visibility and find outliers.
• Defense-in-Depth. Protect your value chain.
  Multiple security layers to secure your infrastructure. Ensure an infrastructure that is secure by design.
• Master all risks. No matter how complex.
  Prioritize risks based on severity. Choose which ones to eliminate.
• Solidify cyber resilience. Stay ahead of attacks.
  Improves vulnerability profile. Ensure compliance.
• Build risk management into key functions. Lead in risk maturity.
  Integrated approach to assess how risk impacts each function and establish a mature risk management practice.
• Rethink governance. Ensure early detection and remediation of security issues.
  Agile security architecture for proactively neutralizing vulnerabilities and holistically understand the risk terrain.

Ensure steady state. Continuously measure, improvise and iterate.

Once you reach the aspired state (the 5th tier), it is recommended that you measure how you are progressing in your vulnerability management initiatives. It can involve evaluating asset exposure, identifying hidden vulnerabilities within them, and prioritizing the remediation actions based on business context and the criticality to daily operations if the vulnerability is exploited.

By continuously improvising and iterating the process, banks will be able to identify and fix potential security issues and improve compliance. The model must be implemented across departments, divisions, and lines of business to derive sustainable outcomes. It enables banks to ensure a steady state in security operations, by properly structuring security operations to realistically manage vulnerabilities and facilitating security goals.