New Mimecast research finds data loss is primary concern for financial industry

Lexington, MA – Mimecast (NASDAQ: MIME) today announced new research commissioned by IDG Research on the factors leading financial services organizations to reprioritize how they manage compliance. Financial services organizations like retail banks, investment firms and insurance companies have always operated under stringent regulations and controls. However, increasing regulatory frameworks and evolving security threats are making compliance an increasing priority within these organizations.

Mimecast and IDG Research surveyed financial services professionals to understand their compliance efforts and what they consider critical priorities. Nearly all respondents (92%) reported that compliance management has become an increasingly high priority over the past two years. Organizations’ compliance strategies for supervision in the coming year are being shaped most heavily by new regulatory requirements (45%) and a growing number of cybersecurity threats (39%). When asked which compliance regulations will have the largest impact over the next 12 months, respondents noted those related to third-party collaboration, cloud storage and legislative orders such as Brexit, GDPR and MIFID II.

Regardless of industry, data loss is an ongoing struggle most organizations face. For the financial organizations surveyed it’s the number one concern, largely due to the ever-evolving threat landscape.  More than half (58%) cited data loss as their organization’s biggest concern regarding non-compliance, and 49% said their organization had been impacted by data loss in the past 2 years.

Additionally, compliance management can be time consuming, in fact eighty-nine percent said the amount of time their compliance teams spend maintaining audit readiness has increased over the past two years. Organizations are looking to reduce the complexity of compliance supervision over the next year. Almost half of respondents cited they intend to improve integration and collaboration between internal teams, streamline processes so IT can focus on higher value activity, and improve their ability to document compliance supervision processes in the coming year.

“Compliance is not a one-time thing, it’s an ongoing effort that organizations need to monitor at every level of their business,” said Garth Landers, Director Product Marketing, Archiving at Mimecast. “The explosion of data combined with the fact that everyone is a technology user has put a lot of pressure on financial service firms to get compliance right. As new rules and regulations come into play, it’s even more important for organizations to ensure they have the right people, processes and technology in place to maintain compliance.”

Earlier this year, Mimecast launched Mimecast Supervision, a solution that helps financial services organizations address supervisory compliance requirements, such as SEC, FINRA, FCA and other regulatory constraints. As part of the Mimecast Cloud Archive, Mimecast Supervision includes intelligent review, optimized reporting and custom workflows that help improve productivity, simplify compliance and reduce organizational risk.

About Mimecast

Mimecast is a cybersecurity and compliance provider that helps thousands of organisations worldwide make email safer, restore trust and bolster cyber resilience. Mimecast’s expanded cloud suite enables organisations to implement a comprehensive cyber resilience strategy. From email and web security, archive and data protection, to awareness training, uptime assurance and more, Mimecast helps organisations stand strong in the face of cyberattacks, human error and technical failure. www.mimecast.com

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