Bank Solutions International’s Technology Gaps and Security Strategy

Technology Issues with Bank Solutions International

1. One of the primary Issues for the Bank Solutions International was substandard software system. The business market requires a robust and updated software system and secures storage and processing units, this is an obstacle to the growth of the company.
2. The technological skill was not adequate to fully test the DRBCPs facilities within the company.
3. Customization of four item processing facilities is yet to be done.
4. All the critical plan employees have never been trained to control and manage the technological advancement of the DRBCPs.
5. Bank Solutions lacked the technology to manage security challenges and also document forensic samples as evidence.
6. The security logging system was not properly coded in order to control the plan participants and monitor their work carefully.
7. Gross redundancies within the network Architect of Bank Solutions International.
8. The backup facilities of the DRBCPs were not assigned to any specific responsibility.
9. Noticeable failure within one item processing facility. The backup processing facilities were no longer operational.
10. The storage facilities for the backup tapes were unsecured. This is a major risk to vital information and transactions of the company. These are some of the technological challenges that were analyzed in the case study.

Risk Assessment

The assessment of the management team in the case study assessed working conditions of the company. It concluded that the risk and challenges facing the company contributed the poor growth of the company. Some of these risks include

1. The company did not have an updated software system and could not compete with similar companies in the business. This hindered the collection of data and the proper management of information.
2. The plan participants that were not trained to understand the technology of the DRBCPs could not handle the daily challenges within the bank. Some of these challenges would have to be solved using external sources thereby reducing the satisfaction of the customer.
3. The facilities at the processing unit were redundant and poorly managed and this contributed to the slow operations of the bank.
4. The backup system were not operational, this reduced the efficiency of the company. The data gathered during transaction hours would be lost and this would be a serious challenge for the management.
5. The quality of the decisions taken by the management would not be current because the information processing unit is not updated regularly. Thus, decisions would be taken based on assumptions and that would be a fatal error for the company.
6. The routine failures of the item processing unit would result in system failures and transaction errors. The expansion of the company would be reduced; this is because the company would not meet up with the competition from other service providers that deliver banking services to clients (Schneier, 2000).
7. The storage facility is a major challenge for the company. The data collected are either stored by the workers or submitted to other storage companies. The resultant effect of this situation is that the files are no longer confidential and client confidentiality would be compromised.
8. The management team would have to audit all the staffs of the company and have a secured information storage system that would not be tempered even by the workers themselves. This can be a setback when the workers have access to files that may be used to commit fraud.
9. Another risk within the company is that of information transfer, the transfers are made through unsecured channels and are not carried out on a daily basis.

Solutions to the security challenges and risk in the Case study

1. In order to maintain a standard security system in the company the entire software systems would be updated to meet up with the global trend. Such update would be carried out on a regular basis. Consequently, the job description of the plan participants would be specific and this would reduce the challenges within daily transactions (Slovic, 2000).
2. Training of information staff and personnel would be done on a quarterly basis and this would reduce the effect of outdated approach to problem solving. The financial market and banking requires that personnel are skilled and properly trained. This is a vital process in data management.
3. The company data center disaster recovery business continuity plan should be reviewed periodically. This would reduce the effect of redundancies from the item processing units. This would reduce the risk associated with data loss. It would also increase client base of the company, since it would be a competitive advantage for the company. The company should be able to manage these risks when they occur, such information systems are critical to the growth and success of the company.
4. Penalties would be placed on defaulting personnel within the company, this would check the unnecessary insubordination and careless attitude among the workers at all levels. Defaulting staff can be demoted or transferred to a different department. Consequently, hard work should be rewarded at the end of any business year; this would support the staff and boost individual productivity.
5. The use of contract off-site storage facilities would be discouraged. This is critical in securing clients trust and confidence. The company should seek other ways to expand the storage facilities within the bank. The objective for expansion of the organization is to secure more clients and expand services to other regions. This would be achieved when the company provides an adequate storage facility for processing and preserving information received during any business transaction.
6. The use of qualified staffs in the storage facilities is a vital task for the managers of the company. This would influence the proper maintenance of the units and a regular update of transaction logs (Slovic, 2000).

Recommendations regarding the security risks and challenges

In view of the factors that would mitigate the risk and challenges case study, there are some recommendations that would require urgent implementation.

1. A documented study would be carried out in the bank to ascertain the kind of data transferred to the bank and the proper means required to protect and preserve the data.
2. The location of the data collected must be placed in a secured storage facility and should be moved to different locations are various intervals.
3. A strategic privacy policy plan would be implemented. This would motivate your clients because of the pledge to provide adequate service.
4. The data collected should be stored in layers; the access to confidential files would be restricted. This would guard against technical fraud by the participants of the plan.
5. Adequate arrangements should be made in the event of data loss from the storage facilities. Such contingency plans would require that the data should be distributed to different locations for safe keeping and the software system is updated on a regular interval.
6. The employees in the company would be trained to understand cyber security rules. They would reduce the risk attributed to unskilled workers.
7. Another vital recommendation is the need for security awareness within the manufacturers of various cyber security systems. The engineers would be required to be updated with relative trends within a cyber-security transaction (Shari, 2012).

Finally, training of information staff and personnel would be done on a quarterly basis and this would reduce the effect of outdated approach to problem solving. The financial market and banking requires that personnel are skilled and properly trained. This is a vital process in data management. The recommendations are subject to change and would require updated information to carry out this function. The use of company staffs to secure files should be stopped. This is a major security risk for the company. Confidential files are meant to be stored in secured locations that would not be compromised. All the processing units must be maintained at all times and data should be transferred after each transaction to avoid loss or damage. The company data center disaster recovery business continuity plan should be reviewed periodically. This would reduce the effect of redundancies from the item processing units. This would reduce the risk associated with data loss. It would also increase client base of the company, since it would be a competitive advantage for the company. These recommendations should be utilized for efficient management of the company and the growth of the business.

References

Schneier, B. (2000). Semantic Attacks: The Third Wave of Network Attacks in Crypto-Gram Newsletter. Web.

Shari, L. (2012). Leveraging Behavioral Science to Mitigate Cyber Security Risk. Web.

Slovic, P. (2000). The Perception of Risk. London. Earthscan Ltd.