As financial institutions face a growing wave of increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks, the focus is shifting from pure defence to resilience.
According to Corlytics, regulatory bodies are taking notice, with frameworks like the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and new directives from the US-based Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) highlighting the critical need for financial firms to maintain operational continuity even during crises.
While cybersecurity is vital, it’s no longer sufficient on its own. Cybersecurity refers to protecting networks, systems and data from unauthorised access or criminal use—safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. But as CISA and the Federal Reserve Board stress, operational resilience goes further. It is the ability to continue delivering services through any disruption, whether caused by a cyberattack, a natural disaster, or operational failure. It’s the combination of effective risk management and adequate resources to adapt and recover quickly.
To truly assess their readiness, financial firms must ask tough questions: Are we able to maintain business continuity during an attack? Can our systems bounce back swiftly from a disruption? Are we equipped to detect and manage incidents in real-time? Do we have clear communication protocols in place for crisis scenarios? And perhaps most importantly—who is accountable for ensuring our resilience strategy is implemented and effective?
Answering these questions requires more than theory. Firms must actively test and validate their resilience strategies. Tabletop exercises, for instance, help simulate outages or breaches, forcing leadership and technical teams to make decisions under pressure. Meanwhile, short training courses and interactive quizzes can educate employees on emerging threats and their role in managing them.
Key performance indicators also play a vital role. Rather than relying solely on compliance checklists, firms should track metrics such as mean time to detect, respond and recover. This helps paint a realistic picture of how well the organisation can restore services after a disruption.
Ultimately, cybersecurity and operational resilience must work in tandem. The ability to fend off attacks is important, but the capacity to recover and continue serving clients is what will define success in today’s volatile environment. Building resilience isn’t just a regulatory checkbox—it’s a business imperative. Financial institutions that embed resilience into their operations not only reduce risk but also position themselves to emerge stronger from adversity.
In the wider cybersecurity space, MIND, a cyber company specialising in AI-native DLP, has raised $30m in Series A funding, only seven months after emerging from stealth.
The round was led by Paladin Capital Group and Crosspoint Capital Partners, with additional backing from Okta Ventures and existing investor YL Ventures. This latest raise brings MIND’s total funding to over $40m.
Founded to address the evolving needs of data protection in the age of artificial intelligence, MIND delivers autonomous DLP solutions that prevent sensitive data loss in real time across large enterprises. The platform has quickly gained recognition for its unique approach that combines data security posture with proactive prevention in a single solution.
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