Salesforce cloud security tools give banks the flexibility and protection they need to safeguard sensitive customer data and remain compliant with data security regulations.

Why It Matters: Financial institutions handle their customers’ most sensitive information, such as financial data and personal identifiable information (PII). It is the organization’s responsibility to honor the trust given to them by their customers by instituting adequate security measures to protect this data.

  • The average cost of a data breach in 2024 grew to $4.88 million.
  • The finance industry is consistently among the most frequent targets of cybercrime.
  • Failing to properly protect sensitive data leads to compliance failures and loss of consumer trust.

Here are the top five Salesforce cloud security features financial institutions need to properly protect sensitive data:

  1. Data Encryption
  2. Identity and Access Management (IAM)
  3. Zero-Trust Architecture
  4. Secure APIs
  5. Backup and Recovery Tools
Top 5 Salesforce Cloud Security Features for Financial Institutions_AutoRABIT

1. Data Encryption

Data encryption is a crucial tool to protect sensitive data because it safeguards this information, even if the Salesforce environment is breached. It obfuscates the data, so even if it falls into the wrong hands, it’s unreadable without an encryption key.

Data encryption ensures sensitive information, such as customer financial records and transaction details, remains protected both in transit and at rest.

This is crucial to comply with stringent regulations like Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which mandate strong data protection measures. Data should be encrypted in all storage locations, including data archives, backups, and live environments.

Top

2. Identity and Access Management (IAM)

Top 5 Salesforce Cloud Security Features for Financial Institutions_AutoRABIT

Human error is unavoidable. But even if you can’t eliminate human error, you can reduce the potential for it by limiting the team members that have access to sensitive data. These efforts combine with strict access control to ensure only those who need access to certain data sets are the ones who have it.

Identity and Access Management (IAM) provides robust controls to ensure only authorized users can access sensitive systems and data.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Single Sign-On (SSO), and role-based access controls (RBACs) are all examples of IAM. To further this effort, ensure user permissions are updated to match their necessary levels of access.

Top

3. Zero-Trust Architecture

The issue of access is a major contributor to a comprehensive data security strategy. And even though zero-trust architecture sounds paranoid, it is actually an essential approach to ensuring the stability, integrity, and security of sensitive data.

A zero-trust approach ensures that all users, devices, and systems undergo continuous authentication and authorization checks, regardless of their location.

This significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access and insider threats, providing an additional layer of security to protect sensitive financial data and comply with regulatory standards.

Top

Top 5 Salesforce Cloud Security Features for Financial Institutions_AutoRABIT

4. Secure APIs

Your Salesforce environment likely has a series of third-party integrations. This extends the capabilities of your platform, but it also introduces potential cybersecurity weaknesses.

Secure APIs enable safe data exchanges between Salesforce and other applications, both internal and external.

Implement secure API practices, such as using strong authentication protocols, encryption, and rate limiting to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access during integration and communication. This is particularly crucial for meeting compliance requirements like PCI DSS and ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of financial transactions and customer data.

Top

Top 5 Salesforce Cloud Security Features for Financial Institutions_AutoRABIT

5. Backup and Recovery Tools

Even the strongest data security strategies can’t completely guard against outages, exposures, and data corruption. Financial institutions need to be prepared for these worst-case scenarios with a recent data backup and the ability to quickly return systems to operation.

Data backup and recovery tools are critical Salesforce cloud security features because they enable financial organizations to quickly return to operations without losing access to critical data.

Automated snapshots should be collected multiple times each day to ensure there is always a contemporary backup to use should an outage occur.

Top

Next Step…

The more Salesforce cloud security tools you use, the more secure your platform will be. Every additional automated solution covers another potential hole that could otherwise result in a costly breach.

Nothing illustrates the benefits of these tools like a real-life example. Check out this case study that shows how OneSavings Bank (OSB) leveraged AutoRABIT’s tools to improve productivity and security.

FAQs