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Software as a Secret Weapon: Why Security is Essential to Support Strategy

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The Fenergo FinTalks podcast is where we connect our listeners to the latest in RegTech, compliance, and anti-money laundering (AML) activity. 

In this episode, we’re talking about all things cloud security with a special guest: Fenergo’s Chief Information and Security Officer (CISO) Niamh Muldoon.

An expert in the field, Niamh’s role at Fenergo is to protect the company’s information assets as well as those of our clients and partners. 
She explains that the role of a CISO involves overseeing people, process, and technology controls across the business to make sure that information as an asset is kept secure and compliant.

In this episode of FinTalks, Niamh and our host, Dhanum Nursigadoo, talk about developments in technology, information security processes, and regulatory requirements from across Niamh’s twenty-two years in industry. 

Together, they tackle questions and misconceptions, like:

  • What is information security?
  • Who is responsible for providing guidance on information security matters?
  • Do I lose control of my data when migrating to the cloud?

When a firm opts to implement software as a service (SaaS) via a cloud provider, as opposed to on premise, the onus is not automatically or solely on the cloud provider to safeguard their data assets.

Clients of SaaS providers are still fully responsible for the security of their data and their clients’ data, but the joint partnership does augment the efforts of your existing security staff.

The most common misconception about cloud-based SaaS models? That firms are not in control of their own data in the same way you are when that data is stored on premise. But it's just a misconception, as Niamh explains. You absolutely are.

This episode also looks at some of the differentiators between cloud providers, as Niamh highlights some of the key qualities that firms should look for when looking to engage a software partner.
Cloud certifications, assurances, and standards are growing by the day. As well as being differentiators for businesses, the likes of SOC 2 Type 2 or ISO/IEC 27001 also grow and foster trust around service delivery KPIs.

The pair also discuss one of the biggest current topics in technology at present: Artificial Intelligence and what it means for privacy concerns. Privacy has given AI a bad name as of late, but the technology itself has been around for decades at financial institutions in functions like credit card transaction monitoring.

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