Navigating Content Security: Top 6 Risks to Financial Data Management

Banks, credit unions, and their account holders generate massive amounts of data every day – new loan and account reports, check images and teller logs, identity documents, and other digital content generated from core banking solutions and auxiliary systems like CRMs and call center platforms. Every piece of structured and unstructured content becomes part of an institution’s information ecosystem, and every data point is vulnerable to a breach.

The financial services industry is consistently one of the top targets for cyberattacks. Yet, many banks and credit unions still rely on legacy document management systems, exposing sensitive account holder and institutional data to risk.

6 Common Data and Document Management Security Challenges

Enterprise content management (ECM) is complex in today’s banking environment. Aging software solutions were not designed to handle today’s diverse content types, evolving external threats, and more stringent regulatory requirements. As a result, gaps in data governance persist. 

Let’s explore six vulnerabilities that may put your financial institution at risk if not addressed.

1. Broad Access to Information
   Shared network drives and basic password protections fall short in ensuring data security. Without role-based access controls, unauthorized employees can access sensitive information like loan documents, HR records, or Personally Identifiable Information (PII). This creates compliance risks under regulations like GLBA, GDPR, and PCI DSS – to name a few.
2. Internal Misuse and Negligence
   Insider misuse—whether malicious or accidental—is an under-addressed risk for financial institutions. Employees may inadvertently delete or alter sensitive data or unknowingly save files in an unsecured location. These actions can lead to compliance failures and result in long-term damage.
3. Lack of Audit Trails
   Tracking the access and changes to documents, images, and other content is essential for accountability, compliance, and security. Metadata is crucial for maintaining complete and reliable audit trails, supporting stronger data governance.
4. Siloed Data Storage
   When data and information are stored across disparate platforms, user workstations, and shared drives, it becomes harder to access, locate, manage, and secure. Siloed data doesn’t just slow down operations; it increases the risk of accidental exposure, inconsistent records, and data loss.
5. Limited Disaster Recovery Capabilities
   Legacy systems may have backup functionality but often lack advanced capabilities to recover diverse file types or ensure fast restoration. In the event of a cyberattack, natural disaster, or outage, full data availability is critical for business continuity. Without strong recovery protocols, operations can stall or result in permanent data loss.
6. Physical Retention and Manual Purging
   Even with retention schedules and purge policies, paper file deletion is often manual, inconsistent, and vulnerable to errors. Additionally, storing paper in both on- and off-site facilities is expensive, difficult to secure, and susceptible to theft or environmental damage.

How ECMs Strengthen Financial Data Security

Enterprise content management systems have evolved beyond simple digital document storage. ECM solutions automate, secure, and streamline content and information from acquisition to disposal. For banks and credit unions, ECMs are essential to maintaining data integrity, protecting sensitive information, and meeting compliance requirements.

With key features like role-based access controls, customizable workflows, detailed audit trails, and robust disaster recovery, modern ECM platforms support secure, efficient content and information management across every department. When integrated with a digital banking platform, ECMs add another layer of protection and convenience by enabling self-service features that give account holders controlled access to institution-approved documents, delivered securely through existing digital channels. 

Want to take a closer look at your institution’s content management strategy? Download our ECM Evaluation Checklist to assess your current system across critical areas like security, compliance, and efficiency—and ensure you’re prepared for the demands of modern banking.

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