2023 MFA Compliance Mandates for Financial Institutions – Are You Ready?
Online data protection is a top priority for consumers. Since 2003, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been at the forefront of regulating how various industries protect their customers’ and clients’ personal information through their Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information (SSC) AKA the Safeguards Rule. The FTC) has recently mandated SSC updates for every financial service organization including banks, brokerage firms, attorneys, and insurance providers. Implementation of their latest multi-factor authentication solutions must be rolled out by June 9th, 2023 to be compliant and to ensure that sensitive financial data is secure and protected. That is why it is important to consult with Converged Technology Group to discuss our implementation of multi-factor authentication solutions to keep pace with current technology and safeguard your sensitive data.
The Rule defines customer information to mean “any record containing nonpublic personal information about a customer of a financial institution, whether in paper, electronic, or other forms, that is handled or maintained by or on behalf of you or your affiliates.” But what does that mean in terms of installing an effective multi-factor authentication by June 9, 2023, to your business? Intended to preserve the flexibility of the original Safeguards Rule, the revised Rule provides more specific guidance for businesses to protect any personal data of customers/clients as well as information about other financial institutions’ clients that has been provided to your firm. Your business should have a revised solution implemented at your firm as soon as possible to prevent the most common security breaches.
As per the latest FTC regulations, your business should update your information security program, which must be appropriate to the size and complexity of your business as well as to the sensitivity of the information at risk. To protect this confidentiality, threats must be anticipated, and unauthorized access to sensitive and private information monitored and maintained. Converged Technology Group, as part of our multi-factor authentication service, will confer with your corporate decision-makers to assess your firm’s needs and to roll out effective two-factor authentication solutions as part of your information security program update.
- Risk Assessment: Converged will assess the scope of the information entrusted to your business and where it is stored. Next, we’ll assess foreseeable risks and threats -internal and external, to the sensitive information’s security. Periodically, this assessment will be conducted as your operations grow and new security threats emerge.
- Design and Implement Security Safeguards to your existing Information Security Program as per the Safeguards Rule mandates.
- Implement multi-factor authentication, i.e. two-factor authentication solutions for anyone accessing sensitive data. The Rule requires a minimum of two (2) authentication factors such as a knowledge factor (i.e. a password), a possession factor (such as a token), and an inherence factor (such as facial or fingerprint recognition). There are additional access controls, and Converged Technology Group can assist to determine the efficacy and necessity for each.
This is but a sampling of the services our team can offer to your business and staff to ensure compliance by the FTC’s due date. At Converged Technology Group, we understand that no safeguard is ever static. These as well as our approaches to multi-factor authentication services must remain fluid to accommodate Government regulations, as well as future security threats. We are leading experts in MFA implementation and design to ensure both user privacy, and security along with ease of use and interoperability. To learn more, contact our team today!