Finance

Financial institutions are among the leading targets of cyber attacks.

Banks are where the money is; for cybercriminals, attacking banks offers multiple avenues for profit through extortion, theft, and fraud. At the same time, nation-states and hacktivists also target the financial sector for political and ideological leverage. Cyber-attacks in the financial sector have tripled over the past five years, and the average cost of containment has increased by 40%. Today, the assessment that a major cyberattack threatens financial stability is axiomatic- not a question of if, but when.

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Some Key Areas To Review

Ransomware & Malware

  • It locks down systems and prevents access until a ransom is paid.
  • There is a costly process of notifying clients, analyzing the attack, remediating the business and paying for monitoring.
  • Malicious emails are designed to look genuine.

Social Engineering

  • Phishing or whaling attacks, sending bogus invoices purport to be from a trusted source.
  • People are often the most vulnerable link in the security chain.

Data Encryption

  • Unprotected mobile applications and unencrypted data are a massive threat to financial institutions.

Fraud & Identity Theft

  • These are constantly evolving through more digital channels.
  • Implement cybersecurity strategies that actively search for suspicious account activity.

More and more banking transactions are now conducted online, with 78% of Canadians primarily banking online or through mobile devices. After data breaches, It could be challenging to trust financial institutions. That’s a significant issue for banks. Data breaches caused by a shoddy cybersecurity solution may easily lead to their consumer base moving their business elsewhere.

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Key NIST/CyberSecure Canada control points:

Email Security

  • Use appropriate signatures and standard disclaimers on email messages, faxes and other documents.
  • Report spam/junk emails immediately.
  • Carefully address emails and double-check names in the address lines.
  • Be cautious when communicating sensitive information via email.

Security Awareness

  • Educate staff and end users about cybersecurity.
  • Require regular security awareness training.
  • Test staff progress and knowledge by deploying phishing campaigns.

Antivirus & EDR

  • Endpoint Detection and Response, works with antivirus solutions.
  • EDR collects data from the endpoint and examines it in real-time for malicious or anomalous patterns.

Passwords & Authentication

  • Ensure your computer has a user profile lockout policy that requires reentering a password to gain access.
  • Have strong password policies in place, including password complexity, password age and use of MFA.
  • Use of password managers in accordance with NIST and Cyber Secure Canada guidelines.

Patch Management

  • It is important to update devices and software on a regular basis.
  • Ensures devices and applications are protected from attacks and operating efficiently.
  • Restricting unauthorized software applications can help mitigate exposure to potential attacks.
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Fusion Computing targeted remediation:

Risk Assessments

Risk must be gauged based on factors such as probability of occurrence, impact on the organization, and prioritization.

Risk assessments should be conducted or reviewed regularly and at least once per year.

Security Controls

  • MDR
  • Secure encrypted backups
  • Data Loss Prevention
  • Encryption at rest and in transit
  • Firewall
  • Incident Response
  • Plan Mobile
  • Device Management
  • Policies and procedures
  • Security Awareness Training
  • Vulnerability Management
  • Multi-Factor Authentication

The CIS Critical Security Controls (CIS Controls) are a prescriptive, prioritized, and simplified set of best practices Fusion uses to strengthen your cybersecurity posture. This simplified cybersecurity approach is proven to help you defend against today’s top threats.

Testimonials

See why top employers and small business leaders say Fusion is the Best IT Company in Toronto

"I got the call no business owner wants - our systems were locked and there was a ransom demand on every screen. I called Fusion in a panic at 9pm on a Friday. They had someone working on it within the hour. By Monday morning our team walked in, sat down, and got back to work like nothing happened. Every file recovered. No ransom paid. I don't even want to think about where we'd be if we'd been with our old provider when that happened."

Sandra M.

"One of our staff had their credentials phished through a fake Microsoft login page. Fusion's monitoring picked up the suspicious login - from overseas, at 2 in the morning - and locked the account before whoever had the password could do anything with it. They called us first thing to walk us through what happened, reset everything, and added extra protections. If that had gone undetected even a few hours longer, they would have had access to our client files. I sleep better knowing someone's actually watching."

Thomas W.

"We went from 35 employees to 70 in under a year after landing two major contracts. Every new hire needed a laptop provisioned, accounts set up, security configured, and access to our project management stack - usually within 48 hours of the offer letter going out. Fusion handled every single onboarding without us having to micromanage it. Our HR team just sends them the details and it's done. That kind of responsiveness let us focus on growth instead of wrestling with IT logistics."

Priya R.

"We'd been with our previous IT provider for six years and thought everything was running well enough. Within the first week of Fusion's onboarding, they found unpatched servers, no working backups, and admin credentials that hadn't been changed since 2019. It was genuinely alarming. Fusion fixed all of it in the first 30 days and built us an actual security baseline. Looking back, we were one bad click away from a catastrophe and didn't even know it."

Derek K.

"We've been with Fusion since 2019 and the thing that still surprises me is how much they remember about our business. I don't have to re-explain our setup every time I call. They know our systems, they know our team, they know our busy seasons. Last year they proactively recommended we migrate a legacy server before it became a problem - saved us from what would have been a very expensive emergency. That's not a vendor relationship. That's a partner who's paying attention."

Michael T.

"We'd been to three different vendor presentations about AI and Copilot and every single one assumed we had a dedicated IT team, a data lake, and a six-figure budget. We have 40 people and a bookkeeper. Fusion came in, looked at what we actually do every day, and found three processes where automation would save us real hours every week. No jargon, no massive investment. They deployed Copilot for our leadership team and built a simple workflow automation that cut our month-end reporting from two days to four hours. That's the kind of AI that actually matters."

Rachel D.

"It is refreshing to work with a technology vendor that is reactive in an expedient manner to our needs as a business. Fusion takes the time to learn what your current and future goals are, offers options to help you achieve them, and make you feel like your business is valued. This partnership has allowed us to reinforce the security of all our operations, protect our customers, and increase our overall efficiency. What a great TEAM!"

Naomi Clarke

Idea Factor

"I have worked closely with Fusion over the past year and I have to say that these guys are great. They manage our Infrastructure, Virtual Machines, Backups, Security, implemented our Cloud Solution with O365 and are our IT Support for staff and desktops. They came highly recommended so I am doing the same for you."

Judie Law

"Fusion Computing has been the best IT Services provider we’ve ever had. Their managed IT services offering covers all 4 of our JP Motors locations bumper to bumper. They take the time to work with us to help us understand our budget and provide solutions from help-desk through to IT Strategy. Highly recommended!"

Ryan Pattinson

JP Motors

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Recent client outcome: under 1-hour response, 100% data recovered, and $0 ransom paid during a ransomware recovery engagement.

Under 1-Hour Response
100% Data Recovered
$0 Ransom Paid