Enhancing Endpoint Security in BFSI to Combat Emerging Threats

In today’s financial services sector, the approach to cybersecurity has fundamentally shifted. Traditional defenses, focused on protecting a defined perimeter, are no longer sufficient. As organizations adopt cloud-led digital transformation, mobility, and hybrid work environments for their employees, these access points have become prime targets for cyberattacks. The question is not whether an attack will happen, but when—and more critically, how prepared the organization is to respond when it does.

The numbers paint a stark picture. Financial services continue to be the 2^nd largest sector for cybercrimes after healthcare, with the average cost of a data breach at $6.08 million, as per IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024. This surge is driven by the increasing frequency and sophistication of attacks aimed at financial institutions. Ransomware, phishing, unpatched vulnerabilities, and zero-day exploits now pose some of the most severe threats. Ransomware can cripple services, exfiltrate data, and force banks to either pay up or suffer significant downtime. Phishing relies on human error, tricking employees into compromising security. Zero-day exploits play on unknown indicators of compromise (IoC) and system vulnerabilities, allowing attackers to breach systems before the institution is aware of the threat.

Cyberthreats can come from any of these bad actors - lone wolves, organized crime/attack groups, and corporate- and/or nation-sponsored. The attack vectors could be phishing, cryptojackers, keyloggers, ransomware, malware, process mitigation, APTs, lateral movements, privilege escalations, and zero-day attacks.

Given the inadequacy of traditional security measures, financial institutions can no longer rely on isolated defenses like firewalls or antivirus software. Instead, a multi-layered security approach with a comprehensive view of the threat landscape is essential. It starts with gaining visibility of the entire environment through centralized systems that can coexist and protect all your current security investments and deploying an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) system.

Advanced endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions must tackle prevention, detection, and protection in real-time, coupled with swift response and remediation. To do this effectively, leveraging an on-agent artificial intelligence (AI) can facilitate real-time prevention using static AI, allowlisting and denylisting applications, continuous vulnerability assessments, blocking unauthorized devices, preventing malicious threat IPs, and stopping next-gen viruses. Real-time detection and protection can be enhanced through dynamic AI, behavior AI, containment, and defense against both file-less and file-based attacks. Quick response and remediation are possible with a 360-degree view, mitigation measures, actionable threat intelligence, threat hunting, triaging, patching, and root cause analysis. Ideally, all these functions would be unified within a single agent embedded in the endpoint.

A comprehensive EDR solution can drastically reduce the time between detecting and mitigating a threat, helping to contain the damage. Additionally, it provides granular visibility across all endpoints, offering a proactive way to identify potential vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.

However, even the best technology cannot stand on its own. Advanced threats and threat actors, previously described, can compromise vulnerable endpoints to bring networks down in seconds. Financial institutions must implement additional layers of defense to protect against increasingly sophisticated attacks.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is one such method that adds an extra layer of verification, making unauthorized access significantly more difficult, even if login credentials are stolen. Equally important is addressing the human element of security. Phishing and social engineering often target employee mistakes, which no technology can fully prevent. This makes regular employee training and awareness programs essential in teaching staff to identify and avoid suspicious behavior that could lead to a breach.

The challenge of securing endpoints is further compounded by the complexity of hybrid IT environments. Financial institutions often operate a mix of legacy systems and modern cloud technologies, creating multiple points of vulnerability. Legacy systems are common in older banks and often lack modern security protocols, making them especially attractive to attackers. Protecting these systems requires 24x7 threat management and, in some cases, custom security solutions.

Cloud adoption, while offering flexibility and efficiency, also introduces new risks. As financial institutions increasingly rely on cloud services, their attack surface expands. Protecting both on-premises and cloud environments requires a comprehensive security strategy that bridges the gap between these different infrastructures. This means institutions must adopt  cloud-native EDRs that are comprehensive, cross-platform technology, and AI-based to detect and protect all devices, whether online, offline, updated, or not.

As cyberattacks grow more sophisticated, the tools used to defend against them must evolve as well. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in this evolution, offering predictive analytics that can forecast potential attack vectors before they become reality. Machine learning (ML) models enhance detection by learning normal endpoint behavior and flagging any deviations that might signal a threat. This reduces false positives and allows security teams to focus on genuine risks.

Modern-day EDRs must have the capability to integrate with SIEM and XDR products to aggregate logs and telemetry in real-time. This information can be put through AI-powered correlation &  detection, and predictive & proactive security modeling. Such integration can offer end-to-end security ownership to the organization.

In addition to AI and ML, regulatory compliance is a major driver of investment in cybersecurity, especially in the BFSI sector. In North America, frameworks like SOX, GLBA, GDPR, and PCI DSS mandate strict data protection measures, pushing institutions to adopt advanced endpoint security solutions. Ensuring that these measures align with regulatory standards is critical not only for maintaining compliance but also for preserving customer trust and avoiding penalties.

Looking ahead, several emerging trends are set to shape the future of endpoint security. Zero Trust Architecture, which moves away from traditional perimeter-based models, is gaining momentum. A zero trust framework assumes that no entity, whether inside or outside the network, should be trusted by default. Every user and device must be continuously verified before gaining access to sensitive systems or data. Implementing zero-trust identity and access offers higher security in an era where endpoint breaches are becoming more common.

Another significant trend is the rise of cybersecurity mesh architecture, a flexible and modular approach to security that is particularly well-suited to hybrid environments. Rather than relying on a centralized security model, cybersecurity mesh distributes security controls across a network, allowing financial institutions to protect endpoints more effectively as they continue to adopt cloud technologies and other digital innovations.

Financial institutions must embrace a proactive, multi-layered approach to endpoint security. The ability to prevent, detect, protect, and respond quickly to threats and remediate them will be critical in ensuring long-term resilience. As cyberattacks become more advanced, BFSI institutions that can stay ahead of these emerging threats will be best positioned to thrive in an increasingly digital financial landscape.