Secrets Management and Financial Stability.

Introduction.

The most alarming problem that digital enterprises face nowadays are data breaches. The key challenge to avoid such incidents and to curb losses from that is to deploy proper secrets management services to the market and make this a norm to promote further interest. So, to further emphasize on clarity regarding compromising such secrets we need to further know about “what is a secret?” A secret is a non-human component of authorization to the practices, tools & processes used to handle, store and access sensitive information such as passwords, API keys, certificates & encryption keys. Secrets themselves are quite effortless, but managing and tracking them is a complicated task. These secrets pile up over time across versions, installations & layers of code, so to do justice to this scenario managing them properly is important, because they act as a key to unlock these protected resources or sensitive information. Some of the above stated mismanagement scenarios take place while hard-coding of secrets, usage of default credentials, manual management & storage in configuration files. The dangers that these unstructured norms pose comprise of data breaches, financial loss, unauthorized operations, account hijacking & compliance violations.

How keyshade helps back security aspects?

Keyshade, is a niche secrets detection and management SaaS (Software as a Service) product providing cloud-based solutions to help developers & organizations easily bypass the risk of secrets leak. Their solution is very comprehensive yet lean on its own which is a prime aspect of the product’s feasibility. Using public key cryptography at its core for encryption while both in transition and at rest, makes the secrets impossible to meddle with. Developing a finetuned SaaS infrastructure where secrets are scanned, encrypted, rotated & managed, has taken a big toll on our time and efforts to render the best experience to its clients to fortify the exchange of trust and services overtime.

Financial ransacks.

According to a Harvard Business Review article, The Devastating Business Impacts of a Cyber Breach the IBM data breach report has exposed an alarming 83% of organizations experiencing data breaches during the year 2022. Further investigating into this topic we will come through a proper set of organized cause and effect relationship. Data breaches leading to unauthorized access to data, records and sensitive information & fraudulent transactions or unauthorized access to financial systems, leading to direct financial losses and hampering reputation along with operational downtimes and irregularities in complying with data protection regulations resulted into hefty fines and compliance costs. The very immediate effects of these causes highlighted above are The Capital One data breach of 2019 leading to exposed personal data of 100 million individuals, heavy penalty of $100 million imposed by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on BitMEX for failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering (AML) controls, Equifax incurring losses in 2017 of over $1.4 billion for mishandling of secrets and configuration errors & British Airways fined £20 million (reduced from an initial £183 million) by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for failing to protect customer data in the year 2020. Secrets leak and related cyber incidents cause a ripple effect which sinks an organization’s stock price, especially in the short term. Companies traded publicly had an average decline of 7.5% in their stock values post data breach, along with a mean market capitalization loss of $5.4 billion. It took an average of 46 days for these companies to recover their stock prices to pre-breach levels. In 2022, the worldwide average cost of a data breach rose to $4.35 million, with the figure more than doubling in the United States, where it averaged $9.44 million. These costs encompass a range of expenses, including ransom payments, lost revenues, business downtime, remediation efforts, legal fees, and audit fees. Lastly, we have fundamental evidence where the IMF April 2024 Global Financial Stability Report the risk of extreme loss from cyber incidents is on the rise. The size of these extreme losses has grown four times since 2017 to $2.5billion accompanying them are indirect losses like reputational damage or security upgrades are substantially higher.

Fostering a culture of security awareness through financial restructuring.

As the steward of the company, a CFO ensures financial integrity and compliance of an organization. To ensure security to company’s assets and reputation and further mitigation of any risks, CFOs of digital enterprises require to adapt along with the changing landscape where they can protect the company’s liability against any kind of secrets sprawl or additional cyber threats. In this part we will walkthrough and address the needed changes we need to bring about in the financial domain to ensure that.

Resource allocation -

Escalation in Investment of advanced secrets management and detection tools like keyshade We have other alternatives too like GitGuardian, AWS Secrets Manager & HashiCorp vault. These tools serve needs based on criteria of the client and are quite efficient in their performance. Investment in hardware security modules (HSMs) and secure access gateways, to protect sensitive information. Hiring security experts and holding training programs for employees to raise awareness about the importance of secrets management and educating them on best practices for handling sensitive information.

Enhancing risk management frameworks -

To reinforce their risk management frameworks, companies should focus on rigorous risk assessment and mitigation strategies. This involves conducting regular security audits and risk assessments to point out vulnerabilities in the handling of secrets and implementing necessary corrective measures. Additionally, developing and refining incident response plans is crucial to ensure swift action in the event of a secrets breach, minimizing financial impact and operational disruption. Developing policies is another key area, which comprises the creation and enforcement of strict access control policies to limit access to sensitive information to authorized personnel only. Implementing compliance and governance policies further ensures adherence to relevant regulations and standards, reducing the risk of fines and legal repercussions.

Financial decision making -

Strategic financial decisions significantly enhances secrets management and detection capabilities. Effective debt management strategies, such as debt refinancing and restructuring, can reduce interest payments and convert short-term liabilities into long-term ones, thereby improving liquidity and freeing up capital for security investments. In terms of equity restructuring, issuing new shares to raise capital allows for investment in cybersecurity infrastructure and hiring specialized personnel. Additionally, asset restructuring through cutting down on non-core or underperforming assets, which can raise capital to invest in advanced secrets management tools and enhance security protocols. Sale and leaseback arrangements can also free up capital while retaining asset use, with the proceeds directed towards strengthening secrets management practices.

Fostering a culture of security awareness -

Creating a culture of security awareness requires organizational commitment at all levels. Ensuring strategic leadership is vital, so that it demonstrates the importance of secrets management and detection to the entire organization. Encouraging cross-department collaboration, particularly between IT, legal, and operations, ensures a cohesive approach to managing secrets. Continuous improvement is also important, which can be achieved by setting up a feedback mechanisms to refine secrets management practices based on lessons learned from past incidents and evolving security threats. Promoting a culture of innovation encourages employees to adopt new technologies and practices that ensures security & enhances further quality of work.

Conclusion.

This article aims towards people with particular keen interest in domains of computer science engineering & finance. The reason why I am publishing this article is that, while working at keyshade I realised that my goal was to take secrets management and detection to a complete different level, where security is of the highest priority and well-structured work preventing secrets leak is a norm.

Date- 22nd July, 2024.

Author - Aritra Biswas

CFO at keyshade

MSc Management (MDX London).