A survey of over 500 financial services IT professionals across six countries in North America and Europe has revealed that they have little confidence in users keeping data safe.

The research, carried out by Blackberry, found that 94 per cent of those surveyed are not fully confident in the ability of their employees, consultants and partners to adequately safeguard data.

A further 59 per cent felt their employees must work around corporate IT policies to get their jobs done.

Security concerns are also having an impact on the deployment of apps, with 80 per cent limiting in some way their deployment as a direct result of data risks.

Using freely available file sharing repositories is of critical concern, according to Blackberry. As these repositories do not secure the file, once the file leaves the organisation it is untraceable and can be shared with anyone, in any location.

This is particularly notable under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as untracked files shared outside of organisational control can lead to customer information being exposed.

Most financial services institutions report they have experienced a breach due to gaps in securing and sharing business files. Consequences identified by IT professionals included 74 per cent lost productivity, 70 per cent penalties for compliance failure, and 31 per cent exposing sensitive data to the competition.

Close to half of respondents also said their company does not have an Internet of Things (IoT) strategy in place.

“Today, networks are vast – with varied access points like ATM terminals, apps, kiosks, tablets, websites and traditional terminals,” read the Blackberry report. “As threats to data become increasingly sophisticated, leaders in the financial services industry must have an IoT strategy in place that balances security and regulatory requirements with productivity.”

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