The Unique Security Challenges in Financial Services
For small accounting firms and community banks, data security isn’t just about good business practice—it’s a regulatory requirement with severe consequences for non-compliance. As financial services increasingly migrate to cloud platforms like Microsoft 365, the convenient collaboration features that make daily operations more efficient can also create significant security vulnerabilities.
Financial institutions manage some of the most sensitive information possible: bank account details, tax documents, investment portfolios, credit reports, and personal financial statements. This data represents not just privacy concerns but potential targets for increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks specifically aimed at smaller financial institutions that may lack enterprise-level security resources.
How Sharing Links Impact Security in Financial Environments
For financial institutions, the impact of improper sharing link management extends far beyond typical security concerns. Each sharing link represents a potential regulatory violation if not properly configured and monitored.
Consider these common sharing scenarios and their implications:
Anonymous Links: These allow anyone who obtains the link to access the content without authentication. While convenient, they represent significant risk for financial data as they can be forwarded beyond the intended recipient with no ability to track who has accessed the information—a clear violation of most financial data handling regulations.
Organization-Only Links: These limit access to users within your Microsoft 365 tenant, but still may grant access more broadly than intended if permissions aren’t properly restricted.
Specific People Links: These provide the most security by limiting access to named individuals, but without proper expiration policies, they can create extended access well beyond when it’s needed.
Audit by ProvisionPoint provides the visibility needed to understand exactly what types of links exist throughout your environment, allowing your firm to implement appropriate controls based on document sensitivity and regulatory requirements.
Meeting Regulatory Compliance with Improved Visibility
For financial institutions, regulatory compliance isn’t optional. Whether you’re subject to SOX, GLBA, PCI DSS, or local banking regulations, you need to demonstrate appropriate controls over information access.
Audit by ProvisionPoint supports compliance efforts by:
- Providing documentation of access controls for regulatory audits
- Enabling regular reviews of external sharing to ensure compliance with data protection requirements
- Identifying potential compliance violations before they become regulatory issues
- Supporting the principle of least privilege by highlighting unnecessary access
By implementing this level of visibility and control, small accounting firms and community banks can demonstrate the same level of security diligence expected of much larger financial institutions—without the enterprise-level security team and budget.
Conclusion
For small accounting firms and community banks, protecting financial data in Microsoft 365 requires balancing the collaboration needs of daily operations with the security demands of regulatory compliance. Audit by ProvisionPoint provides the visibility and control needed to strike this balance effectively. The result is a Microsoft 365 environment that facilitates efficient client service while providing the robust protection that sensitive financial data demands.
As regulatory requirements continue to evolve and cyber threats grow more sophisticated, proactive practices to security will become increasingly valuable—not just as a compliance necessity, but as a competitive advantage in a financial landscape where client trust is the ultimate currency.
