Security Training

Finance professionals did not receive training

Employee contracts

Finance professionals did not have formal agreements to security policies in their contracts

Policy

Finance professionals did not see a security policy on starting

Background checks

Finance professionals were not aware if their organization does this

* Research with finance workers in the US and UK (250 in each)

What are finance organizations doing with new employees to safeguard data?

On-boarding is essentially the process of inducting new employees at any level, and should include sharing tools and practices of working in ways that protect the organization and its clients’ information.

Training on how to safeguard data

In the US, according to GLBA, finance organizations have to report on how they share information and safeguard sensitive data and have created online documents and tutorials to help organizations keep sensitive data secure. However, according to our research only 33% of financial personnel said that they received this training.

The FCA’s Financial crime: a guide for firms recommends that new employees should have access to training on financial crime risks — and new staff in customer-facing positions should receive financial crime training tailored to their role before being able to interact with customers. Which is why it was surprising to learn that 51% of workers we surveyed did not receive security training as part of their induction.

Security policies

In addition to briefing new employees on information security procedures, the FCA states that firms must have in place up-to-date policies and procedures relating to risks of financial crime, which should be readily accessible, effective and understood by all relevant staff. Results of the survey showed that only 55% of UK financial professionals had formal agreements to security policies in their contract with 57% in the US.

Another step in the hiring and on-boarding process is conducting background checks on future employees. The FCA identifies background checks as good practice, especially if staff are in higher risk roles, taking on a temporary position or if employment agencies are used. Similarly, GLBA offers helpful guidelines to financial organizations that do background checks pre-hire. About two thirds (66%) in the UK and 39% in US were not aware if their organization does this.