Cloud Bank and Investment Group - Research Paper Sample

Introduction

Cloud Bank and Investment Group (CBIG) is a private company that provides banking and finance services. The organization stands out due to the kind of products and services it offers that target the low-income earners and clients who lack access to mainstream banking services. A large section of the population that does not work in a formal setting do not benefit from conventional banking services. The founders of CBIG set out to tap into this market, given a large number of people and groups that can need affordable banking products. Since its formation, CBIG has experienced significant growth based on its model that creates a possibility for future investment and success. It has managed to attract and retain many customers whose deposits have made the bank to rank among the top hundred in the country. Since CBIG has become a critical financial institution, the management strives to address and carry out the Joint National Priorities for Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience.

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Critical Infrastructure

CBIG takes pride in providing easy access to essential services offered by mainstream financial institutions. Clients can access and manage their accounts and portfolios from their homes through internet-enabled devices. The organization heavily relies on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems and networks to serve its customers. It has various databases that contain crucial information about clients and faces a potential cyber threat or attack whose occurrence can harm thousands of people. Aware of the cyber risks involved in a financial entity that depends on ICT, the management strives to improve resilience and protect critical infrastructure. It has thorough internal procedures to prevent cyberattacks, such as software that ensures verification at several stages before allowing access to data. The company also engages the services of cybersecurity experts who check the systems for weakness and malware (Camillo, 2017). Hence, CBIG continues to mitigate and manage the risk of cyberattacks that could cripple service delivery.

The company has various physical locations where clients can visit to seek advice and help on different issues. The essence of having these physical banks is to serve clients who prefer the traditional way of banking or who experience challenges using online platforms. Besides, the physical banks and offices contain several tangible components critical to the work of CBIG. Tools such as computers and storage devices include sensitive information about the customers who have trusted CBIG. To mitigate physical threats and hazards that could impair the critical infrastructure, the company has implemented controls across all departments. For instance, it has hardware, rules, and procedures that regulate who comes into contact with specific aspects of the banking network (Bawaneh, 2018). These measures aim to restrict the number of persons authorized to access the systems and networks. Thus, they prevent the critical infrastructure against issues such as theft, loss, and misuse of the vital client and organizational data.

Build Capabilities

Cyber response and recovery plans determine the preparedness and capacity of organizations resume service delivery after a cyberattack. Effective and efficient management of cyberattacks is integral to ensuring that clients do not lose trust in the organization and, more importantly, their money. CBIG enhances its cybersecurity frameworks through its enterprise-wide cyber risk management policies. Through the controls implemented in all departments, the management tracks incidences that threaten the stability of the ICT networks and systems. The rules ensure that relevant persons get notified when breaches, cyber, or physical attacks occur. CBIG manages to initiate corrective action since it adheres to regulatory policies that require all staff members to be aware of cybersecurity measures (Crisanto & Prenio, 2017). Their response, based on the training they have received at CBIG, ensures that they can intervene and minimize the adverse effects of security breaches. Through regular training forums and interaction with external security experts, the organization builds the teams’ capacity to coordinate responses to attacks.

Continuity of Operations Planning

Given the size of the clientele that the bank serves and the nature of the essential service it provides, CBIG must prioritize continuity planning. A disruption in service delivery due to cyber or physical attacks that affect the critical infrastructure of the organization can lead to a loss of livelihood for thousands of customers. CBIG addresses continuity of operations planning by identifying essential processes, divisions, and ICT systems that are crucial to meeting client needs amidst widespread disruption. According to the CBIG employee guideline, when distress arises due to breaches, the staff members ensure continuity by ensuring compliance with internal control systems (Tunji, 2013). Both employees and clients have to adhere to the existing measures to avoid further disarray as the management handles the outcomes of cyber and physical hazards that test the bank’s resilience. By relying on well-tested and implemented measures to keep the organization running, the company ensures continuity.

Partnerships

Organizations in the private sector cannot thrive without partnering with other entities, especially in the public sector, to address cyber and physical security risks. A firm such as CBIG serves a large population and strives to protect its assets against fraudsters and hackers who can disrupt essential service delivery by targeting critical banking infrastructure. Partnering with other organizations has enabled the firm to modify its approach to cybersecurity defense by learning from others. Given the sensitivity of the information that the banking sector stores, CBIG cannot afford to isolate itself and develop unique solutions and measures to prevent threats and minimize risks. Since the management understands the value of polling resources and partnering with like-minded organizations, the company benefits from risk-analysis and management tools that work for others (Merkow & Breithaupt, 2014). Through partnerships, departmental leaders remain updated about emerging trends and issues in the banking sector and the risks they pose to CBIG.

Collaboration between public and private organizations is integral to the development of cybersecurity strategies that impact mitigation levels in a country’s critical sectors. Both public and private enterprises have resources, information, and techniques that can result in increased knowledge of cyber and physical threats to critical infrastructure. Given the fast advancement in ICT and evolutions witnessed across sectors, the threats and challenges continue to grow. Based on the ever-changing threat and risk that CBIG faces, it works with public financial institutions to enhance its security measures. While the company has endured legal and strategic hindrances to forming partnerships, its business model has eased relationship formation. As a result, it benefits from information regarding cybersecurity laws, technology, and policies (Department of Homeland Security, 2014). Collaborating with the public sector gives the company access to crucial details that influence how the management navigates cybersecurity risks and threats while acting within existing business and banking regulations. Through the private-public partnership, the organization stays ahead of emerging issues that can compromise or enhance organizational readiness for cyber threats.

Information Sharing

The variety of cyber threats and physical risks and hazards that private entities in the financial sector face are immense. Companies such as CBIG are central to the livelihood of several families, and it is the management’s responsibility to take care of customers’ deposits and assets. One of the ways that businesses can stay ahead of the present and future threats that could lead to huge losses is sharing information across the sector (Skopik et al., 2016). Based on past incidences, particularly in 2013, where fraudsters coordinated efforts to defraud banks and customers, banks need to stay alert and work together to reduce susceptibility and weaknesses (Johnson, 2016). Thus, CBIG strives to increase communication with other financial institutions to gain access to crucial intelligence and information.

Malicious individuals and groups that target financial institutions identify loopholes in the ICT systems and networks that they can exploit to defraud organizations. As different banks face and defend cyberattacks, they gain techniques on how best to protect their software and hardware against cybercrime. The information and tactics learned through these incidences increase preparedness to mitigate future attacks. CBIG collaborates with other businesses in the banking sector, and the management gains access to vast information and up-to-date databases on how other finance institutions address cyber risks and threats (Johnson, 2016). When businesses share information and combine resources to improve resilience and preparedness, they can mitigate losses to cybercrime. Hence, information sharing is central to the continuous improvement of ICT systems and networks.

Resilience

Effective decision-making in the banking sector is crucial to creating an organizational structure and corporate culture whereby all members are team players and dedicated to serving customers. The management has a responsibility to design and implement policies that increase organizational readiness to deal with cyber threats and physical hazards that threaten operations and service delivery. Bank managers formulate policies and make decisions depending on the quality of information they receive from various departments. A review of large banks that serve a vast market indicates that decision-making is critical to the effective management of client data and company assets (Abumandil & Hassan, 2016). At CBIG, the teams strive to enhance resilience across all departments by using reliable information to influence the decision-making.

Challenges

The primary challenge in managing risks and threats in the banking sector is the volume of data and information that organizations have to control and protect. The increased use and dependence on ICT systems and networks has led to the generation of vast volumes of sensitive data that businesses must protect. Easy access to mobile banking and financial services via internet-enabled devices has changed the industry. Companies such as CBIG have to harmonize resources and rely on diverse strategies to ensure that the customer data they collect is safe (Razzaq et al., 2013). The organization needs to safeguard the information and secure that cyber threats and physical hazards do not impair service delivery, given the vital role the bank plays amongst low-income earners.

Conclusion

Overall, businesses in the private sector must design and implement policies that will ensure the safety of critical infrastructure, client data, and assets. The efforts of the management must build the confidence of the customers and guarantee the security of personal information. An organization like CBIG has distinguished itself in the financial sector by prioritizing the needs of low-income individuals and groups that usually lack access to traditional banking services.