BY RYAN TULLY
October 22, 2024
In Part 1 of this series, we explored how Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) plays a critical role in helping banks secure sensitive data in an increasingly complex environment. The key takeaway? Modern data challenges demand proactive solutions, and DSPM provides the foundation for discovering, protecting, and managing sensitive data across fragmented infrastructures.
During our recent webinar, industry leaders Sean Steele (Co-Founder of Infolock), Fred Hamilton (CISO at BHG Financial), and Ryan Tully (Chief Product Officer at Spirion) discussed how banking institutions can stay ahead of evolving threats by leveraging DSPM. They identified not only the key security challenges banks face today but also the roles responsible for addressing these threats.
In this post, we’ll dive into the unique challenges faced by five critical personas within the banking sector and how platforms that support a DSPM framework empowers them to strengthen their security posture.
Five Banking Personas and Their Security Challenges
Securing sensitive data in the banking industry is a team effort, and each role faces unique challenges. Below, we highlight the key banking personas and how DSPM helps them overcome their specific obstacles.
1. Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
The CISO is tasked with overseeing the bank’s entire security strategy, which involves managing both immediate risks and long-term governance. During the panel, Fred Hamilton shared that CISOs in banking often juggle firefighting urgent threats while working to build sustainable, scalable security frameworks.
Challenges:
- Navigating a constantly shifting threat landscape.
- Maintaining visibility across cloud, on-premises, and endpoint systems.
- Identifying and addressing shadow IT and sensitive data in unmanaged environments.
How DSPM-Supported Platforms Help: Platforms supporting DSPM, like Spirion, offer real-time, automated data discovery and classification, helping CISOs maintain complete visibility across their data environments—whether at rest, in use, or hidden within shadow IT. Automated remediation processes also reduce the strain on security teams, allowing them to focus on strategic initiatives.
“Automation in DSPM reduces the manual burden on our staff and lets us focus on building a sustainable security model,” Hamilton emphasized during the discussion.
2. Data Protection Officer (DPO)
The DPO’s primary role is to ensure compliance with data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA. Sean Steele highlighted the increasing pressure on DPOs to meet evolving regulatory demands while maintaining data accuracy and privacy governance.
Challenges:
- Efficiently handling Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs).
- Maintaining data minimization and governance across fragmented systems.
How DSPM-Supported Platforms Help: Platforms supporting DSPM offer highly accurate data discovery and automated responses to DSARs, enabling DPOs to meet compliance standards and respond to regulatory requests swiftly. With these platforms, privacy management transitions from a manual, labor-intensive process to a streamlined, automated operation.
“DSPM gives us the confidence to respond to any regulatory inquiry with verified accuracy,” Steele explained.
3. IT Security Manager
The IT Security Manager is responsible for the deployment and management of security controls, particularly in hybrid environments where data exists both on-premise and in the cloud. Managing the breadth of sensitive data and responding quickly to security incidents is one of their greatest challenges.
Challenges:
- Monitoring sensitive data across diverse environments.
- Reducing incident response times in case of breaches.
How DSPM-Supported Platforms Help: Platforms that support DSPM provide continuous monitoring and real-time alerts, helping IT Security Managers respond faster to incidents. This reduces the impact of breaches and significantly cuts response times, enabling teams to pinpoint compromised data with precision.
“DSPM cut our incident response time in half, giving us the focus to act quickly when it matters most,” Hamilton shared.
4. Risk and Compliance Officer
For Risk and Compliance Officers, maintaining compliance with mandates like PCI DSS and GDPR is a never-ending responsibility. Ryan Tully noted that keeping up with both international and state-level regulations can be overwhelming without the right tools to track risks effectively.
Challenges:
- Balancing compliance requirements across multiple jurisdictions.
- Gaining clear visibility into high-risk data within hybrid infrastructures.
How DSPM-Supported Platforms Help: Platforms supporting DSPM provide continuous oversight of sensitive data, identifying high-risk areas and flagging them for prioritized remediation. This empowers Risk and Compliance Officers to proactively mitigate risks and prepare for audits, reducing the likelihood of non-compliance.
“With DSPM, we can be proactive in managing risk, rather than waiting for regulators to identify gaps,” Tully remarked.
5. Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
As banking continues its rapid digital transformation, the CTO is responsible for ensuring that security is embedded in every new technology initiative. Cloud migration and digital innovation are critical areas of focus, but without proper data security measures, they can introduce new vulnerabilities.
Challenges:
- Integrating advanced security tools into existing systems without disrupting operations.
- Managing security across a hybrid cloud and on-premise infrastructure.
How DSPM-Supported Platforms Help: Platforms that support DSPM integrate seamlessly with existing security architectures, allowing CTOs to scale the bank’s infrastructure while maintaining strong data security controls. This visibility across both cloud and on-premise environments enables CTOs to drive innovation without compromising security.
“DSPM allows us to scale our cloud infrastructure without losing control over sensitive data,” Steele shared during the panel.
The webinar underscored that while DSPM is not a one-size-fits-all solution, platforms like Spirion Sensitive Data Platform offer critical capabilities that address the most pressing challenges in banking. For CISOs, navigating evolving threats and managing shadow IT becomes more efficient with real-time data discovery and automation. Data Protection Officers (DPOs) benefit from streamlined compliance workflows, making regulatory responses faster and more accurate. IT Security Managers can drastically reduce incident response times with continuous monitoring and real-time alerts. Risk and Compliance Officers are empowered to proactively manage risk by identifying high-risk data for remediation. Lastly, CTOs can confidently drive innovation and cloud scaling while maintaining strong data security controls across complex, hybrid infrastructures.
In today’s multi-cloud world, where data is dispersed across various environments, DSPM-supported platforms like Spirion provide the visibility, automation, and proactive controls needed to protect sensitive information, prevent breaches, and maintain regulatory compliance
