Big Data

Have you ever thought about how much digital data there is in the world? Well, there is never really a set number because massive amounts of data are generated every second. In fact, there is 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created every day. That’s eighteen (18) zero’s! When large amounts of data is being processed by an organization on a day-to-day basis, it is known as Big Data. Big Data is referred to as all data, structured & unstructured, at mass quantities and is starting to be leveraged by the Financial Industry. 

2.5 quintillion = 25,000,000,000,000,000,000 

Structured data is your typical 1’s & 0’s (like the Matrix) that are processed & stored by a network database and gathered personal information. This type of data is used by computer algorithms to help with search engine criteria, develop web pages, and are typically used by most CRM’s. Examples of structured data: Names, Phone numbers, Social Security numbers, Credit Card information, Addresses, and Financial Transaction statements. Unstructured data is basically the information of employee behavior: Text documents, emails, video/audio, pictures, etc.  

Both structured and unstructured data are extremely important to an organizations day-to-day functionality. However, the data itself isn’t the interesting part. It’s what you can do with the data that’s important.  

Structured data allows financial employees to anticipate customer behaviors and create strategic planning.  

Unstructured data is used by financial employees to communicate and correspond that structured data within the organization.  

Combined, they allow financial institutions to automate manual processes, utilize algorithmic trading tools, generate portfolio returns, and other various FinTech’s to create efficient & effective workflows, which leads to satisfied customers, which leads to increased revenue. Or as Talend wrote, it gives “…the ability to analyze diverse sets of data, financial companies can make informed decisions on uses like improved customer service, fraud prevention, better customer targeting, top channel performance, and risk exposure assessment.” 

According to the laws of Physics – more specifically, Newtons third law – for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. While all this big data is great and has helped many financial organizations become successful, it comes with its drawbacks. From a hardware standpoint, there is so much data being processed it is virtually impossible to manage and maintain. Which is a huge reason financial firms have switched to a cost-effective cloud-based infrastructure. Traditional hardware is ill-equipped to handle and process data at today’s speed and level. From a software standpoint, it still takes a team of skilled & trained individuals to be able to understand and process the data being input and output through the system.   

From a data standpoint, the information being obtained from people by financial institutions is extremely essential and vital to an individual’s financial structure. Which makes it very valuable to both financial institutions and cybercriminals.  Securing Big Data is essential to ensuring a financial company’s continued success. Without that data, they would not have the upper hand on the competition and find themselves working 3x as hard for a fraction of the reward. If a company’s’ network were to be compromised, and all their files/data were copied or extracted, said data could be used as ransomware against the company, it could be sold to a competitor, or it could ruin client trust in the organization. Each scenario is detrimental to a financial service and could cripple an organization.  

Here, at Steel Patriot Partners, our MDR platform can transform the way a company views its infrastructure. Our software is designed to enable full visibility into the company network and learn who is doing what, when, and where. Being able to see what data is being transferred, where it is being transferred to, and how it is being transferred, give an organization full control over their data. No matter the size. We have a team of specialized security engineers working around the clock that monitor and supervise your network so no one else can. If there are ever any signs of suspicious behavior/activities or if any toxic intrusions arise, our team discovers it in real-time and immediately begins to remedy the situation.  

For more information on how our MDR platform can help you secure you Big Data please give us a call at 703-297-4405 or email us at [email protected]! We’re excited to talk!