The New Frontier of Security: Navigating Risks of Remote Work, AI Threats, and Cloud Migration

As technology reshapes how we work, it also redefines and influences the risks financial institutions face. Now more than ever, institutions face unprecedented cybersecurity challenges, including the rising threat of AI-driven attacks. These challenges require businesses to adopt a proactive approach to cybersecurity, integrating robust security measures and staying ahead of emerging threats in an increasingly digital world.

This blog provides strategies to navigate an evolving world of cybersecurity threats, including challenges stemming from AI, remote work and cloud-based infrastructure.

Want to take a deeper dive into securing your systems and navigating evolving risks? Watch our on-demand webinar.

Navigating Remote Work Risks for Financial Institutions

Most institutions recognize the need to enable remote work, whether to provide workforce flexibility as a perk or to ensure business continuity in the event of disaster. To remain competitive, your institution should develop a contingency plan that includes remote access. That said, while this approach offers valuable flexibility for the business, it also introduces cybersecurity risk that must be managed.

Without a comprehensive plan or appropriate controls for secure remote access, users will typically find a way to do it themselves-and their way may not be secure. For example, one of your employees might access a work-related application over the weekend. If they log in from their home computer, that represents a risk for your institution.

Remote work also complicates data storage and access. With remote connectivity, data is far more distributed than in the past, when most or even all of your data was contained within an on-premises network. Your corporate data now likely resides on mobile devices, laptops and in the cloud to make it more accessible to remote users. In some cases, it may even be on your employees' personal devices. With so many potential vulnerabilities, it's essential to ensure you have the right controls in place.

Since your borders are no longer just the four walls of your building, you need to understand:

• Where your data is
• How it's moving
• Controls in place to secure it

Endpoint vulnerabilities are another critical risk factor to address when managing remote work security. In the previous example, if an employee at home uses a web-sharing application to access your network and that endpoint has vulnerabilities, that introduces significant risk to your organization.

Additional Considerations for Remote Work: Data Loss Prevention, EDR and Effective Monitoring

It's important that your organization has visibility into how and when your users are connecting. If you monitor for unusual login activity-repeated password attempts or out-of-country activity, for example-you can take immediate action when an incident is detected. Additionally, institutions must monitor for missing patches and outdated antivirus or endpoint security systems.

Understanding where your data is and where it's going, along with implementing controls to prevent unauthorized access or exfiltration, is critical. For instance, sensitive corporate data should not be exfiltrated from the network. To prevent that, programs to classify, identify and safeguard critical information must be established.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Data loss prevention (DLP) software provides you control over how data is shared, allowing you to identify sensitive information and apply policies to restrict its transmission. With DLP software, you can develop your own policies to determine which data is included and ensure that data remains where it should. If suspicious activity is detected, you can investigate the user's behavior and make sure it's compliant with your policies.

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Endpoint detection and response (EDR) is a critical component in countering modern threats. Security teams once relied on signature-based detection to identify malicious activity or files, but since technology is now more dynamic, these methods are less effective. Instead, your institution should focus on identifying and preventing unusual behavior on endpoints. Keeping your endpoints secure is an effective way to help mitigate threats. In addition to EDR, keeping patch management up-to-date and establishing an effective incident response plan are essential.

Continuous Cybersecurity Monitoring

Further, security monitoring has never been more important. Continuous cybersecurity monitoring leverages automated tools to collect and analyze data from different sources, including user behavior logs, to detect cyberattacks in real time. Managing ongoing cybersecurity threats presents a challenge for many internal IT leaders, leading many institutions to team up with a trusted managed security services provider (MSSP) to acquire an entire team of security professionals for threat monitoring and remediation.

Exploring the New Frontier: AI in Banking

Artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving so quickly that new potential threats are constantly emerging. One common application of AI is identifying information within network environments, such as documents or project-related data. To find this information, the AI combs the inside of your network. Without proper controls or segmentation, it could access confidential or sensitive information, like financial records or contracts, that may not be appropriate for a specific user.

Furthermore, AI increases both the speed and sophistication of attacks, since hackers now use it to generate code and exploit vulnerabilities. AI systems can also enable hackers to chain multiple vulnerabilities together. For instance, when major vendors disclose several vulnerabilities in their systems, hackers can use AI to rapidly develop code to exploit these weaknesses.

Although many institutions are still evaluating and developing their AI strategies, some have already implemented it into their processes. This integration, however, may expose previously unrecognized sensitive data. To mitigate this risk, organizations can employ DLP systems that continuously scan the network to identify, analyze and label potentially sensitive information, restricting unauthorized access, even from AI systems. Additionally, many institutions are now implementing continuous vulnerability assessments, regular scans that alert IT administrators to potential risks in real time.

Another way to mitigate AI risks is to educate your employees. Make sure that your users understand what AI is, how it can benefit them and the security controls implemented by your organization. Keeping employees educated on the potential risks of AI-to themselves and your institution-enables them to make more informed decisions in their daily responsibilities.

Countless companies are developing AI models, and it's likely your institution is already using AI in some capacity. In fact, 33% of bankers surveyed in CSI's 2025 Banking Priorities survey chose AI as the top trend to watch in 2025.

Maintaining Cybersecurity in the Cloud

Organizations have increasingly migrated to cloud infrastructure, making cloud adoption nearly an industry standard. Parallel with the shift toward remote work, cloud migration accelerated dramatically over the past four years, partly driven by the pandemic.

Cloud technology offers institutions numerous benefits, among them the flexibility to scale resources as needed, as well as enhanced support for remote work.

However, cloud technology also introduces specific risks. One critical risk is misconfigured services within your cloud deployment, underscoring the importance of thoroughly understanding how the cloud works. As data increasingly moves to the cloud and becomes accessible from remote systems and mobile devices, the attack surface is expanding. You can't think of your data within the network anymore-data is now effectively borderless.

Institutions must identify where data resides and ensure appropriate security controls are implemented at each point. Simple misconfigurations can lead to significant breaches, so leveraging cloud posture assessment tools as part of an extended vulnerability assessment program is essential.

Regularly scanning your cloud infrastructure for vulnerabilities within applications and systems is crucial to maintaining cybersecurity.

Building a Comprehensive Security Strategy

The first step to building a comprehensive security strategy is acknowledging the need for an integrated approach that incorporates remote work, cloud and AI risks. It's also critical to understand that networks are now borderless. With users at home, data in the cloud, and information spread across endpoints and mobile devices, a holistic view is necessary to ensure comprehensive protection.

On the AI front, integrate AI considerations into your cybersecurity framework. AI can heighten risks related to existing security vulnerabilities that your vendors may announce. Mitigate these risks as quickly as possible by ensuring effective scanning and timely vulnerability management.

Finally, it's important to ensure that your institution adheres to regulatory standards. Evolving regulations present challenges, but proactively addressing compliance requirements helps maintain security and reduce technology risks.

Mitigating Risk in an Evolving Cybersecurity Landscape

The risks discussed in this blog don't replace existing risks, but add to the spectrum of cybersecurity concerns facing financial institutions. So, remember that when new risks emerge, it's critical to not only mitigate them initially but to maintain ongoing monitoring and control measures.

The most damaging breaches occur due to overlooked vulnerabilities, like phishing attacks or ransomware spreading internally after exploiting system weaknesses. Hackers are always seeking these vulnerabilities, leveraging advanced techniques to infiltrate networks. To counteract these threats, ensure your institution implements layered security including robust user security training programs. In fact, the most successful and resilient institutions are the ones working to foster a strong security culture among their staff and users.

Want to learn more about securing the new normal? Watch our on-demand webinar for a deeper dive into the topic.