OCC scrutiny: Separating security, governance, and quality in banking

Data Security ≠ Governance ≠ Quality If you're treating them like the same thing, you’re setting your team up for risk. Here’s how to break it down—and why growing banks can’t afford to get it wrong: 🔗 https://hubs.la/Q03LzKPm0 #DataGovernance #BankingCompliance #OCC

🔐 Cyber-Operational Risk in Finance — When the Firewalls Fail In 2025, the biggest financial risk doesn’t always sit in markets — it hides in data lines, cloud servers, and human clicks. A single breach can freeze trades, erase billions, and shake global trust. ⸻ ⚠️ The New Financial Threat Landscape → 12% rise in ransomware incidents in 2025 across banks & insurers. → Firms hit by cyberattacks saw –1.3% avg stock drops, some losing up to –5.2% in 48 hours. → 70%+ of breaches trace back to third-party vendors — not internal systems. → Global cost of financial data breaches: US $5.1 million avg per event (IBM). → 23% of all U.S. cyber incidents this year involved finance & insurance — the highest among critical sectors. 💡 A system crash today isn’t just downtime — it’s a liquidity event. ⸻ 🧩 Why This Hits Finance Hard → Cyberattacks on clearing systems delay settlements & disrupt repo markets. → Compromised data leads to model errors and valuation mismatches. → Vendor lock-ins create systemic exposure across entire banking chains. → Reputational losses force firms into capital raises and higher credit spreads. When systems freeze, balance sheets follow. ⸻ 🧠 Lessons from the Field I’ve learned in Financial Risk Management that we can model volatility, but not vulnerability. → Market risk is measurable. Cyber risk is discoverable only after it strikes. → During my MBA days, cricket taught me — reflex beats prediction. In cyber defense too, the fastest response wins the match. ⸻ 🔎 Real-World Alarms → Knight Capital (2012): A 45-minute algorithm glitch burned $440 M. → Equifax (2017): Data breach cost $1.4 B in fines & settlements. → Capital One (2019): 106 M customer records leaked — $190 M loss. → MOVEit hack (2023): Hit 600+ companies, costing the finance sector $10 B+. The message? Cyber risk isn’t emerging — it’s evolving. ⸻ 🚀 The New Frontier of Risk → 🔒 Operational risk = Cyber readiness + Vendor transparency. → 🧠 Model risk = Data integrity + Algorithm accountability. → 💼 Strategic risk = How fast you recover when tech collapses. → ⚙️ Governance = Turning compliance into competitive advantage. ⸻ 🌍 Final Thought Tomorrow’s financial collapses might not start on Wall Street — they’ll start with one bad line of code, one weak vendor, or one unpatched server. Risk management isn’t about controlling markets anymore — it’s about understanding the networks that power them. #CyberRisk #FinancialRiskManagement #OperationalRisk #RiskAnalytics #ModelRisk #NYCFinance #DataSecurity #ThirdPartyRisk #Resilience

🔔 Cyber-Finance Weekly Trend Watch Week of November 3 – 9, 2025 This week’s signals highlight how cyber risk, regulatory pressure, and financial resilience continue to converge across markets, vendors, and regulators. 💥 1️⃣ Active Exploited Vulnerabilities (🔴 High) New CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) entries and Oracle E-Business Suite flaws (CVE-2025-61882) are being leveraged in real-world attacks. Why it matters: Finance and real-estate ERP and vendor systems remain top targets — a single unpatched platform can expose client data and disrupt operations. Who should care: CISOs • IT Ops • Vendor Risk Managers • Real Estate Finance Action: Prioritize patching and validate vendor remediation SLAs. 💼 2️⃣ Cyber Risk as a Fiduciary Duty (🟠 Medium-High) Financial regulators and boards are reframing cybersecurity as part of fiduciary oversight — not just an IT cost. Why it matters: Firms that can’t express cyber risk in business terms face growing scrutiny from investors and examiners. Who should care: CFOs • CROs • CCOs • Board Members Action: Quantify cyber exposure in dollar impact; align board reporting with enterprise risk metrics. 🤝 3️⃣ Trust as the Core of Financial Resilience (🟡 Medium) From RIAs to large banks, customer trust is now the most fragile asset. Breaches are seen as governance failures, not just technical ones. Why it matters: Regulators link consumer protection directly to data protection; credibility gaps trigger compliance actions. Who should care: Marketing • Compliance • Client Success • Risk Officers Action: Map communication plans to your incident-response framework. 💰 4️⃣ Quantifying Cyber in Dollars (🟣 Medium) Industry thought-leaders emphasize translating technical vulnerabilities into financial exposure. Why it matters: The shift enables better budgeting, insurance coverage, and board-level decision-making. Who should care: CFOs • CROs • Risk Analytics Teams Action: Adopt FAIR-based or similar models to align cyber metrics with financial outcomes. ⚙️ Why it matters The financial ecosystem — from RIAs and broker-dealers to banks and real-estate finance — is no longer judged on IT controls alone. Resilience, fiduciary accountability, and cyber transparency now define institutional trust. How is your firm connecting cyber risk to financial performance and investor trust? #CyberFinance #FinTech #Banking #Compliance #RIA #BrokerDealers #CyberSecurity #OperationalResilience #VendorRisk #RiskManagement #RegTech

If you’re a tech (or any other) company looking to do business with Wall Street or FIs in New York You need to be aware of NYDFS 500 and other finance-related security requirements. It is a gatekeeper to entering one of the most competitive and lucrative markets in the world. Under NYDFS 500 regulation, SMBs are responsible for demonstrating risk management to your business partners (Refer: NYDFS 500.11). In simple terms, you are required to show your prospective clients that you actively protect data, detect threats, and reduce risks. Today, banks and insurers will not onboard technology partners unless they can demonstrate regular penetration testing, strict access control policies, and continuous monitoring. Failing to show this level of readiness can kill or stall deals entirely. To compete and win contracts with DFS-regulated entities (banks, insurers), SMBs must invest in ongoing penetration testing and risk assessments. Companies that do this position themselves with the same level of trust and maturity as established enterprise vendors, giving them access to opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach. This proactive approach builds a long-term compliance foundation, making it far easier to achieve additional frameworks and accelerates entry into additional high-value markets. Tulsi Security helps SMBs get there faster through AI-powered penetration testing and continuous security assessments designed to meet the standards expected by the financial sector. Our experts help you seamlessly navigate compliance, ensuring your cybersecurity measures are robust and aligned with industry best practices. If your goal is to break into New York’s financial market, reach out to our team or DM me.

🚨 Veracode Report Reveals 63% of Financial Services Firms Carry Critical Security Debt — Increasing Supply Chain Risk 💣💼 A new report from Veracode has unveiled a growing concern across the financial sector 🏦: 👉 63% of financial services organizations are burdened with critical security debt, putting them at higher risk of cyberattacks and supply chain disruptions ⚠️ Here are some key insights 👇 💡 Many firms continue to delay patching known vulnerabilities 🐞 — creating long-term risk across their digital ecosystems 🌐 ⚙️ Security debt doesn’t just affect internal resilience — it spreads across vendors, partners, and customers 🤝 📉 Heavy reliance on third-party software amplifies exposure and makes remediation more complex 🧩 🔔 Veracode’s warning: Without reducing security debt, organizations risk cascading failures in data protection, regulatory compliance, and supply chain trust 🔒📊 🧠 The takeaway: Security debt isn’t just a technical issue — it’s a strategic business risk 🚨 Firms must prioritize continuous code scanning, timely patching, and vendor risk management to strengthen resilience 💪 #Cybersecurity #RiskManagement #SecurityDebt #Veracode #Fintech #SupplyChainSecurity #DataProtection #Compliance #CISO #CyberRisk #InfoSec

🎯 The evolving regulatory landscape in financial services isn't just changing - it's fundamentally transforming how institutions approach compliance and data governance. Gone are the days of periodic audits and reactive measures. Today's reality? Regulators demand real-time visibility into data access, movement, and usage. This continuous scrutiny creates unprecedented pressure on financial institutions to demonstrate program effectiveness and accountability at all times. The challenge many organizations face is clear: Traditional manual compliance processes and static policies simply can't keep pace with the velocity of regulatory updates and emerging threats. This gap exposes institutions to significant risks - from regulatory fines to reputational damage. But here's the strategic shift worth noting: Leading institutions are moving beyond "check-the-box" compliance toward comprehensive data governance. KnowBe4 is at the forefront of this transformation, enabling organizations to: • Monitor and report on compliance continuously • Embed governance principles into daily workflows • Transform compliance from a barrier to an enabler of innovation 💭 Ask yourself: Is your organization still stuck in a reactive compliance cycle, or are you building a proactive governance framework that supports both security and innovation? Remember: In today's landscape, strong data governance isn't just about avoiding penalties - it's about building trust, enabling innovation, and creating sustainable competitive advantage. #FinancialCompliance #DataGovernance #CyberSecurity

🚨 DISASTER DOESN’T WAIT .... ARE FINANCIAL FIRMS (OR ANY BUSINESS) ACTUALLY RESILIENT, OR JUST “COMPLIANCE” CONFIDENT? 🚨 💡 Why do today’s “industry best practices” still leave organizations exposed to AI-powered threats and operational disasters? What really happens when your systems or backups fail live in 2025? 💸 In financial services: Payment processing locks up. Payroll and wire transfers are halted. Clients panic. Trust is quickly lost. 🛑 That so-called “compliant” backup? Ransomware or sophisticated AI-driven attacks have likely corrupted it along with your primary systems. Restoration becomes slow or impossible. 📞 Ops and compliance teams scramble as regulators and executives demand answers. You cannot prove what data is safe or give a timeline for recovery. 😓 Staff and clients face stress, reputational fallout, and lost business for every hour you remain offline. 🔓 Third-party attacks move faster than audits. Vendor and supply chain gaps allow threats to bypass controls never tested under real, current adversarial tactics. Consider any industry today: 🏭 A midsize manufacturer or retailer faces ransomware that stops plant operations or customer payments. Backups exist, but credential systems and external dependencies are compromised. Restoration drags on for days. Orders, shipments, and digital trust are lost while the crisis spreads across teams and social channels. The end result for both financial and non-financial organizations is the same: ⏳ Downtime, financial impacts, compliance penalties, brand and client trust destroyed and leadership left explaining why “best practice” frameworks were never enough. Are your controls and plans genuinely closing vulnerability gaps? Or are you relying on outdated definitions and documents written before AI changed the attack surface? Do not settle for checklists or PowerPoint promises. Demand evidence-based, actionable resilience built on the threats and realities of today. 👉 Contact CyBrilliance for direct, expert insight and support helping financial institutions and every sector build operational resilience for whatever comes next. Continue the conversation and drop a comment. #CyberResilience #FinanceSecurity #CyBrilliance

https://lnkd.in/daUN6XdC #Financial institutions lead in #cybersecurity maturity—yet 64% of their digital #supplychain remains unmonitored. Bitsight TRACE’s latest research uncovers three critical truths about financial sector #risk: • Over 50k #thirdparty relationships define modern finance. • Institutions monitor only 36.3% of their vendors. • Unmonitored suppliers have 2.9x more critical #vulnerabilities. In a SaaS-driven world, #visibility is the new perimeter. Bitsight enables financial leaders to map, monitor, and mitigate digital supply chain risk with precision and confidence. Click to read the full analysis... #CyberRisk #RiskManagement #FinancialSector #CyberResilience #informationsecurity

《The Email That Could Not Wait: Understanding Data Loss Incidents and Regulations》 Story: Sarah, a vigilant data loss analyst, glances at the AI dashboard and an urgent alert lights up her screen: an email containing customer financial data has been sent outside the bank. Should this be reported to MAS? Sarah reviews the email metadata first—recipient domain, timestamp, attachment type, and encryption status. The data may have been sent to a legitimate external partner for a required verification process. The time is outside normal business hours, which raises questions about escalation procedures. They map the incident against internal policies and MAS guidelines, recognizing that even non-malicious actions can reach regulatory thresholds. Key Questions: - Is the data sensitive enough to be considered a reportable breach? - Was there a data-handling control failure (e.g., misaddressing, misconfiguration, or lack of encryption)? - Did the incident involve non-malicious staff behavior that could still breach policy or regulatory requirements? - What is the potential impact on customers and the bank’s risk posture? Interactive Prompt: What initial questions would you ask when reviewing an AI-flagged email to determine breach severity? Possible questions include: ○ What data elements were exposed, and how sensitive are they? ○ Was the data encrypted in transit and at rest? ○ Who was the recipient, and is there a legitimate business need for disclosure? ○ What caused the exposure (misaddressing, misconfiguration, policy violation)? ○ What is the potential impact on customers and regulatory standing? ○ What containment and remediation actions have been taken or planned? ○ Are there prior incidents with similar patterns, and what lessons were learned? Key Takeaway: A clear understanding of regulatory definitions as well as internal information risk policy with diligent review of flagged emails are essential to prevent compliance risks. Tip: Regularly update ourself on MAS breach notification guidelines, PDPA guidelines and decisions and integrate them into our daily workflows. #EmailDataLoss #MASCompliance #DataPrivacy #DataProtection #Cybersecurity #DataBreach #InfoSec #RegulatoryCompliance Disclaimer clause: For educational purposes only. Always follow your institution’s policies and MAS guidance. Feel free to reach out with any questions in the comments or via direct message—I’m here to help.

𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝗜𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱? Just read some alarming news about hidden vulnerabilities in the financial sector's supply chain – and it got me thinking. We often focus on direct financial risks, but the interconnectedness of the modern finance ecosystem means risks can be lurking in the unlikeliest of places: vendor data, third-party platforms, and even outdated legacy systems. The truth is, a weak link in your supply chain can become a major chink in your armor, exposing your organization to fraud, data breaches, and regulatory non-compliance. Data analysis plays a critical role in uncovering these hidden risks. By analyzing vendor performance data, transaction patterns, and security logs, we can identify potential vulnerabilities before they become full-blown crises. We need to go beyond basic due diligence and embrace advanced data analytics to truly understand the risks within our financial supply chains. This means investing in robust data governance, building predictive models, and empowering data analysts to ask the right questions. What are your thoughts on this? How is your organization leveraging data analysis to mitigate supply chain risks in the financial sector? Share your experiences and best practices in the comments below! Let's learn from each other and make the financial system more resilient. #DataAnalysis #FinancialRisk #SupplyChain #RiskManagement #FinTech #DataGovernance #CyberSecurity #Compliance #DataScience Read Full Article Here: https://lnkd.in/gr_v3EVJ