Community
Symphony turns 10! Discover how we’re transforming the financial industry through trust, passion, and cutting-edge technology.
November 27, 2024
The Compliance Dilemma: Why Financial Firms Can’t Afford to Ignore Messaging Security
Financial institutions have long faced risk – and challenges – in protecting their data. In the United States, the FBI recently issued a warning about the dangers posed by unsecured communication platforms, specifically focused on SMS and other “off-channel” messaging systems which lack encryption.
Attempted data breaches are becoming more sophisticated by the day. Both U.S. and European agencies are currently urging businesses to adopt encrypted messaging solutions to safeguard sensitive information. These recommendations are made in light of several high-profile data incidents that have compromised private communications, particularly within government and political circles.
The Growing Threat
Alongside this technology risk, financial institutions have faced mounting regulatory pressure, with regulators enforcing communication compliance with over $3B meted out in fines for poor “off-channel” messaging compliance. As a result, many institutions have scrambled to ensure they have compliant means of communicating with clients.
Despite the new Trump administration signaling a shift towards deregulation in the financial sector, it has also signaled that it will implement significant changes in U.S. cybersecurity policy, particularly in response to foreign cyber threats. This trend seems to be further supported internationally with the news that the UK regulators have been handed powers to regulate companies that provide “critical” services to UK banks amid concerns that cyber-attacks and outages could put the country’s financial stability at risk. It is therefore clear that governments now see unencrypted messaging platforms as a significant risk.
Thus, securing work communication has never been more urgent. Unfortunately, many institutions are still struggling to balance data protection and compliance capture against seamless client communication.
The Problem with SMS
Let’s look at the technology behind what is a widely used method of communication, texting. Both SMS (Short Message Service) and RCS (Rich Communication Services) are widely used messaging platforms, but both present notable security risks. Unlike more secure messaging apps, SMS lacks any encryption, and RCS encryption depends on the specific implementation. While platforms like iMessage offer end-to-end encryption within the Apple ecosystem, this protection is not extended to SMS or RCS messages. The risk becomes particularly evident when messages are exchanged between iPhones and Android devices. In such cases, any encryption provided by iMessage is negated when communicating via SMS or non-encrypted RCS channels. This can lead to a false sense of security, as users may assume their conversations are protected when, in reality, they are vulnerable to interception.
Of course, such mistakes have consequences.
Cybercriminals can exploit even the smallest amount of personal information. For large financial organizations, such vulnerability creates a potentially catastrophic risk.
The Compliance Conundrum
Financial institutions are required to capture, monitor, and archive regulated business communications for compliance. However, encrypted communication can prevent regulators from properly policing the situation. On the other hand, non-encrypted platforms like SMS, present a clear risk. So firms face a difficult dilemma: encrypt communication and risk non-compliance, or avoid encryption and risk a data breach.
Symphony resolves this conundrum with technology. Our platform ensures all communication is encrypted before being sent. It then remains encrypted during transmission, and is only decrypted once successfully received. Even if it were to be intercepted, all data would remain unreadable and secure. Unlike traditional messaging systems, like SMS, all communication through Symphony is protected throughout the entire process. This is how financial professionals can securely communicate with clients, without compromising convenience.
Messaging Federation with WhatsApp
One of Symphony’s standout features is its seamless interoperability with popular communication platforms like WhatsApp. With this integration, financial institutions can communicate with clients on their preferred platforms, while still meeting the high security standards required for compliance.
By combining Symphony’s enterprise-grade encryption with WhatsApp’s flexibility, clients can continue using the tools they’re familiar with, all without fear of violation. This integration is particularly valuable for institutions with global clients who use different platforms. In this manner, Symphony enables them to communicate securely and without interruption between systems.
Symphony helps companies minimize exposure to the growing number of cybersecurity threats. We offer protection against metadata exploitation, message hacking, and communication breaches. Our tools provide comprehensive risk management solutions for the various modes of client communication. In short, we help make sure that your sensitive business communication always remains secure.
The Most Important Connection
It is an unfortunate reality that financial firms must manage data risks and regulatory scrutiny. But with Symphony’s end-to-end encryption and easy integration with popular messaging platforms, companies can easily communicate with their clients, without disruption. Our tools offer the peace of mind that comes from knowing your communication is safe, in the eyes of both clients and regulators.
At Symphony, we understand that the most important connection of all is the one you have with your client. In the end, that is what we are really protecting.
Safeguard your communication with Symphony
Related resources
Tech4Fin
FDC3 aims to simplify communication between different financial applications. Traditionally, traders juggle multiple displays, manually transferring data. FDC3 enables automatic context sharing between these applications, saving time and reducing errors. Common uses span from pre-trade to post-trade activities.
Symphony, a member of the open-source foundation FINOS, is deeply involved in developing FDC3 and promoting its use in global capital markets. Our focus is standardizing integration APIs, giving customers flexibility in choosing their Desktop Integration Platform provider while supporting FDC3.
November 18, 2024
Tech4Fin
The 2020s are an unprecedented decade of disruption and every market participant is either the disruptor…or the disrupted. Today, we stand at the precipice of artificial general intelligence and every well-run organization should be actively seeking to disrupt themselves right now. Symphony has been able to remain almost a decade ahead of disruption by understanding one simple truth—thriving through disruption. This demands three things from your technology: resiliency, stability and flexibility.
October 21, 2024