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In Financial Services, IT Has
Keeping Customer Data Safe

EXECUTIVE BRIEF

It’s time to recognize user needs and secure them
their employees, consultants, and partners are taking adequate measures to secure their customers’
data, according to research commissioned by BlackBerry.

plans around emerging technologies will introduce new areas of risk in the future.
All told,in the ability of their employees, consultants, and partners to adequately safeguard customer data.

three-quarters of respondents saying their organization experienced negative consequences

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In this Paper· File sharing is a particularly vulnerable part of the· Many employees in this sector have to workaround corporate IT policies to get their jobs done

· Secure, easy-to-use applications that
support collaboration and connectivity
will help address these risks

A QuinStreet EXECUTIVE BRIEF © 2019

in Users Keeping Customer Data Safe

survey, 80 percent are limiting in some way the deployment ofsharing practices?

applications as a direct result of security.
Percent ofrespondents

Consequence
Lost productivity due to redundant efforts

74%

Penalties for compliance failure

70%

Exposing sensitive data to the competition

31%

Impact on the brand because of a data breach

22%

None of the above

25%

Figure 1•57 percent of respondents say their organization is holdingback on the deployment of applications that use sensitivedata.

•23 percent say they are limiting deployments of some
applications to business-critical or executive users

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sensitive data, security and compliance are, unsurprisingly,
top-of-mind issues for IT professionals in the heavily regulated
64 percent ofrespondents cite compliance as one of their organization’s top
three emerging challenges (Figure 2).
What do you see as you organization’s biggest emerging challenges?
Choose your top three challenges.
Challenge

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desktops, laptops and tablets, BYOD is gaining momentum
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and content management needs that deliver maximized
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Percent including inTop Three Challenges

Regulatory compliance64%

Keeping up with cybersecurity threats

43%

Quantum computing - quantum safe cryptography

42%

Mobile threat detection

34%

collaboration

32%

Protecting privacy and data security

27%

Tech nimbleness of disruptive competitors(entirely new technology-driven business models
and rising client expectations)24%

Leveraging technology to improve overall network
performance

19%Balancing productivity needs with security
requirements

17%Intelligence (AI)• Prevent data leakage
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16%

Need for consolidation - Enable productivity
across teams, clients and partners & manage yourorganization’s diverse set of endpoints and apps
(from a single console)16%

Use of third-party systems

16%

Other

9%

of employees and partners to work securely using productivity
applications sanctioned by the IT department. When such

Figure 2

Is IT Providing the Tools Users Need?

elsewhere for tools that help them get their work done. Whether
employees and partners collaborate, these so-called “shadow IT”

services organizations deploy applications. According to theA QuinStreet EXECUTIVE BRIEF © 2019

apps are often a concern to IT organizations that cannot control2File Sharing and Collaboration Leads toin Users Keeping
CustomerServices
Data Safe
Security
Gaps in FinancialFirms

access to information when users store it in consumer-grade,
often cloud-based repositories and applications.

IT department need to recognize the needs of users and address
them with secure solutions. Among respondents who felt strongly

59 percent feel their employees have to work around corporate
IT policies to get their jobs done on a monthly, weekly, or daily
basis. Nearly 50 percent of respondents said such workarounds

that their users had access to the tools they need via mobiledevices, only 6 percent also felt their users had to work around
existing IT policies to get their jobs done more than once a week.

occurred at least once a month (Figure 3).
How often do you think company employees have to work around thecompany’s IT policies to get their jobs done? For example, emailinga document to a personal account so they can work on it at home, or
being forced to bypass a corporate VPN.

1% 3%
7%

Every dayMore than once per week
More than once per month
Only in an emergency(1 or more times/year)

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41%
48%

Never

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Productivity vs. Security

Figure 3

Circumventing IT policies has a strong correlation with IT

common challenge for IT organizations. For years, too many of theapplications and other safeguards designed to help protect data andthe research found.

devices served as roadblocks to user productivity. This helped propel
the adoption of shadow IT and thus decreased the level of security.

•Nearly two-thirds of the respondents who say they have “noThe survey data suggests the balance of productivity and security
users had to work around IT policies on a daily basis.
services IT professionals in the survey identify security and•A similar percentage of respondents who were “veryusers never had to work around existing IT policies.

Providing users with the applications they need increasinglyincludes providing mobile access to applications and data sotheir users have the applications they need to do their jobs andmeet their business goals using mobile devices, the survey foundstrong evidence that mobility is a weak link in security strategies.

A QuinStreet EXECUTIVE BRIEF © 2019

When considering the deployment of new industry apps andtechnologies, please rank the factors that impact your decision?
Factor

1: MostImpact2

3

4

5: Least
ImpactDoes it make employees moreproductive?

71%

25%

1%2%

2%

Is it easy for employees to use?

35%

14%

16%

19%

16%

Does it meet regulatorycompliance?

21%

22%

15%

27%

15%

Is it secure?

14%

17%

34%

18%

17%

How much does it cost?

11%

31%

23%

21%

14%

Figure 43

in Users Keeping Customer Data Safe

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in their users to protect sensitive information, and too manyusers are relying on workarounds despite the importance thesector places on security and compliance. The path forward
for addressing this issue requires an understanding of boththe value and the risk of collaboration and connections.

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BlackBerry® Cybersecurity Consulting can help you
understand precisely where your organization’s risks lie andassets need protecting to help maximize the impact of yoursecurity investments and strategy. Instead of constantly
reacting to the latest cybersecurity threats, BlackBerry
will advise you on how to invest effectively in strategies
to help future-proof your systems and organization.
Whether you have an established cybersecurity approachcompliance among their top emerging challenges, productivity
and ease of use rank higher than security, compliance, and even
deploy new applications and technology (Figure 4).

it, BlackBerry Cybersecurity Consulting can help.

recognize the challenges of making applications accessible
to users in the modern IT environment. More than threequarters of the survey respondents strongly or somewhat
agree that deployment effort across multiple devices
and application management solutions is an importantconsideration when deciding which applications to deploy.

•Recognize that human behavior (e.g., choosing the•Understand that the use of workarounds represents the needs of

Why the discrepancy between security and complianceorganizations deploy? The data suggests that IT
professionals believe easy-to-use tools that help users
get their jobs done will ultimately improve security andcompliance by keeping data on authorized applications.
The idea that users can have productivity or security is a false
connected with their customers, employees, and partners thanever. While these connections certainly introduce risk, they
to the organization and its customers.

A QuinStreet EXECUTIVE BRIEF © 2019users that are not being met by the applications currently available•

Address this risk with secure, easy-to-use applications that
support collaboration and connectivity without introducing
a burden on the users.

Future Technology Plans
The survey also asked respondents about their future plans for
information technology. As a distributed ledger with a reputation
for security, it’s unsurprising that Blockchain is the emerging
technology that the respondents believe will have the most4

in Users Keeping Customer Data Safe

Please rank these emerging technologies according to the impact they will haveon your industry.

Impact234

ImpactBlockchain

37%

18%

16%

14%

15%

Quantum Computing –Quantum Safe Cryptography

23%

20%

18%

20%

18%

11%

31%

23%

23%

12%

Intelligence
Robots

15%

20%

37%

18%

10%

Intelligent Security

8%

16%

13%

33%

30%Figure 5

way that human connections between employees, partners,
customers, and distributors can increase risk, so too can•The emerging technology drawing the most interest among

technologies like IoT, which establish non-human connections

the surveyed IT professionals is voice technology (likethat increase the attack surface.

Alexa or Google Voice). Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) ofrespondents say their organization has already implemented

The survey respondents seem to recognize the need for caution

voice technology, and another 29 percent say they are

when they consider deploying emerging technologies. Theirreviewing or considering it.

caution around voice technology might be a function of voice
being the emerging technology most respondents are using or•

Slightly more than half (53 percent) of respondents say their

On the surface, the adoption of emerging technologies like voice,considering (Figure 6).

Which new technologies are you cautious about implementing?

IoT and AI seems like a solid strategy for improving business
Because many emerging technologies will also reduce thereliance on humans in some business processes – and thePercent ofVoice technology, Natural Language Processing

65%

Use of robots

40%Intelligent security

37%

Quantum computing - quantum safe cryptography

28%
26%

technologies might also give the appearance of reducing risk.

Blockchain

24%

Figure 6

In truth, the adoption of emerging technologies is likely to reducerisk in some areas while creating risk in others. In the same

Many of these technologies will help create new endpoints
that operate largely without human interaction and often“IT professionals believe easy-touse tools that help users get theirjobs done will ultimately improvesecurity and compliance.”

A QuinStreet EXECUTIVE BRIEF © 2019

operate on the edge, beyond the traditional network.

These trusted connections
are essential to thwarting increasingly sophisticatedattacks on increasingly distributed infrastructures.

5

in Users Keeping Customer Data Safe

BlackBerry can help balance your productivity
needs with industry leading security

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Key Takeaways from the Survey

BlackBerry to connect their employees to the information theyneed, on the devices they want, with unparalleled security.
••devices (Bring Your Own Device - BYOD)•industry, users remain the weak point when it comesto meeting security and compliance standards. Filesharing and mobility are areas of particular concern.
••

Secure mobile access to the apps your employees need•Protect client data from hacks and reduce your liability•Reduce risk, cost, and recovery time from ransomware
attacks

needs are not being met. IT departments need to recognize
user needs and embrace solutions that address them or theywill continue to deal with the risks.
•Empower employees and consultants to use their own

Security and compliance need to be a more importantconsideration when researching and planning IT•

Comply with increasing regulatory requirements

visit: https://us.blackberry.com/enterprise/industries/

About the Survey•
consideration the adoption of applications that enableproductivity and collaboration while also ensuring security
and reducing risk of data leakage.
•Emerging technologies like IoT, AI, and more will
introduce new risk because they increase the attack
surface, and will thus require new approaches tosecurity designed for this new paradigm.

industry was commissioned by BlackBerry and conductedby QuinStreet, the publisher of eWEEK, eSecurityPlanet,and other websites for IT professionals. It was distributed
via email to members of an independent, third-party panelin the United States, Canada, UK, Germany, France, andSwitzerland between Nov. 28 and Dec. 5, 2018. The margin“File sharing is a particularly
vulnerable part of the security

A QuinStreet EXECUTIVE BRIEF © 20196