In an era where the financial sector, particularly mortgage businesses, is increasingly digital, the importance of cybersecurity cannot be overstated. The risk of data breaches in this industry is high, with an average breach cost estimated at $5.72 million, according to IBM's 2021 Cost of a Data Breach Report. Prominent companies like Morgan Stanley and HomeTrust Mortgage have fallen victim to cyberattacks, emphasizing the urgent need for advanced cybersecurity practices and software.

This article about Cybersecurity for Mortgage Software was originally published on Django Stars Blog. Written by Alex Ryabtsev - Backend Competency & Tech Lead at Django Stars

Benefits of Robust Mortgage Software Cybersecurity

Implementing robust cybersecurity measures can significantly reduce risks, ensuring financial stability. Key benefits include:

• Excellent threat detection

Companies with security awareness training and streamlined processes can respond to threats 3.5 times faster than those without, as highlighted in Cisco's 2021 Security Outcomes Study.

• Smaller attack surface

Role-based access control and network security rules help inspect and monitor all network connections, minimizing vulnerability.

• Compliance

Compliance with industry-wide data security and privacy regulations, including GDPR, PCI DSS, and FTC standards, is vital.

• Reputational integrity

IBM’s 2021 report shows that the most common types of stolen data were customers’ (44%) and employees' (26%) personally identifiable information. Safeguarding customer and employee data reduces the likelihood of reputational damage and potential lawsuits.

• Lower cost of data breaches

Cybersecurity practices like zero trust can cut data breach costs by up to 42.3%.

Understanding the tactics employed by hackers is crucial to establishing robust measures to protect against cyber threats.

How Criminals Breach IT Security for Mortgage Products

Malware injections. Cybercriminals can run malicious software and scripts within a company's network. According to the OWASP Top 10, around 94% of applications have suffered from some form of injection.

Misconfigurations. Around 94% of applications have broken access control, and 90% of database breaches occur due to poor configuration or open internet accessibility.

Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack. These attacks cause systems to overload, resulting in costly downtime.

Social engineering. Check Point’s 2022 Cyber Security Report shows that about 17% of breaches result from psychological manipulation tactics like email phishing and pretexting.

Ransomware. Ransomware attacks, which render data inaccessible by encrypting, increased by 13% in 2021.

Brute force attacks. Approximately 5% of breaches occur due to attackers cracking weak passwords and exploiting basic authorization mechanisms.

Cybersecurity practices can help mortgage companies prevent most data breaches and maintain business continuity by mitigating potential damage.

12 Practices to Maximize Cybersecurity for Mortgage Software

Typically, mortgage software cybersecurity has weak spots in four layers: code, third-party, server, and database. We pay special attention to these areas when designing and developing fintech solutions.

1. Secure password practices

Train employees to set long, complex passwords, use unique credentials for different accounts, and never share them with anyone.

2. Advanced authentication measures

Multi-factor authentication requires providing extra information to access business systems. This approach enables extra security layers and reduces potential fraud.

3. Device usage policies

Companies should enforce the BYOD (bring your own device) policy using business-grade VPN services and anti-malware.

4. Access control

Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to restrict access to systems based on user roles. This also helps trace the origin of data breaches, if they occur.

5. Zero trust policy

Companies can route traffic through a dedicated firewall, a secured web gateway, or secure access service edge (SASE) platforms. Cisco found that businesses practicing these policies are 35% more likely to excel at SecOps.

6. Request limits

Set limits on packet length and requests to prevent DoS attacks. However, it’s critical to separate real attacks from increased demand. We use rate-based, regex match, and geographic rules in AWS WAF to block malicious requests on the cloud level.

7. Hacking simulations

Regularly simulate attacks to anticipate and counter potential threats. Such an approach can give a 30% lift in security performance (compared to companies that practice it only once a year).

8. Cloud-based deployment

Consolidated cloud-based technologies are much easier to update than distributed, on-premise environments. Over 72% of companies with mature security technology integration and a high degree of automation prefer the cloud. 37% of these organizations deploy cybersecurity tools from a single vendor.

9. Proactive technical updates

Companies that routinely update security for mortgage products have 30% higher chances of meeting customer demands than those that only do so every few years. After updates, teams should take the time to delete any unneeded functionality, files, or dependencies.

10. Unified business architecture

Organizations must deconstruct their siloed technology and merge it into highly interconnected systems that act as functional units. This has been shown to improve security program success (11-15%) and threat detection (41%).

11. Cyber threat intelligence

Threat intelligence software plays a vital role in collecting, organizing, and analyzing security data to provide valuable context for identifying potential signs of compromise and effectively responding to possible attacks.

12. Prompt disaster recovery

A robust disaster recovery plan should encompass a minimum of 80% of an organization's critical systems. It is essential for the plan to address various attack vectors and incorporate a comprehensive strategy, such as secure data server backups of source code and critical data, as well as automated encryption measures following a breach.

Technologies to Improve Cybersecurity of Mortgage Platforms

The effectiveness of cybersecurity tools greatly depends on their seamless integration into the client's existing processes. Without proper integration, their efficiency may be compromised. To enhance the cybersecurity of mortgage platforms, the following tools can be instrumental:

• Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tools like GitHub code scanning and AppSweep scan repositories and check for license compliance.

• Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) tools like OWASP ZAP and StackHawk perform automated vulnerability scanning.

• API security tools provide runtime security and detect malicious requests.

• SQL protection tools like Django Object Relational Mapper (ORM) secure data exchange.

• Code quality tools like MegaLinte and SonarQube check for errors and ensure code consistency.

• Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) like Datadog _and _Prisma Cloud inspect traffic for high-risk content, benchmark resource usage, and detect unidentified devices and potential network attacks.

Any mortgage product or financial software must prioritize proactive cybersecurity. Multi-factor authentication, cloud-based deployment, cyber threat intelligence, and other technologies can help keep key operations running and guard against a wider spectrum of attacks. There is no way to protect systems from all conceivable threats, but an experienced software provider can make them as secure as feasible.