Loan providers work with large volumes of sensitive data on a daily basis. Security should thus always come first. One of the most reliable solutions is to start using suitable loan management software, which keeps crucial data safe through digitization, encryption, and other reliable methods.
The question of how to protect the sensitive data of your clients is an inevitable topic when working with loan management software. Loan providers collect the personal data of a large number of customers every day. If it falls in the wrong hands, this data could potentially be used for criminal activity. Needless to say, a data leak in a loan company results not only in high penalties and numerous lawsuits from clients against the company but also destroys the company's reputation. But that doesn't mean that remote attacks are the only threat – a simple error on the part of one of the employees may also lead to severe problems.
When developing our Solitea OneCore loan management software on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central platform, data security was thus one of our highest priorities. Our users can then rest easy knowing their data is entirely safe at all times. The following lines will explore some of the core methods of loan data security and outline the options that OneCore provides in this area.
Data Encryption
The most fundamental safety measure is encrypting the data so that it can only be accessed by a user with the corresponding encryption key. In practice, this means that even if a data leak occurs, the hacker will not be able to read the data and use it in any way. Loan management solutions most commonly encrypt data using SSL protocols, which ensure both the encryption of data communication as well as identification of the client and the server (i.e. the user can be certain they are communicating with the server and their data is not being intercepted by a third party).
Data Encryption in OneCore
The system uses so-called transparent data encryption (TDE) which protects against malicious activity by encrypting data, backups, and files in real time without the need to modify the application. TDE uses a so-called database encryption key protected by the server's certificate. The certificate is unique for every server on the Azure platform and Microsoft changes it at least every 90 days.
Two-Step Verification
The most common method of identifying the users of various software solutions is a unique user name and a sufficiently strong password. But as the sophistication of personal data theft methods increases, so does the need for more powerful login methods. The answer is two-step verification, which introduces another level of security on top of the password and user name. This level can take many forms depending on the specific solution – you can come across biometric authentication based on fingerprints, authentication via a code sent via SMS, or the use of external security solutions. All these methods have one thing in common – they try to make it as difficult as possible for hackers to breach the system's security.
Two-Step Verification in OneCore
The users of the cloud solution within a SaaS license can protect their data in OneCore via multi-factor authentication (MFA). Your administrator can set two-step login verification for each user, which enables safe login even from outside of the office, among other things. MFA can also be enabled with conditional access to suit your specific needs.
Document Backup
A major security risk is also the loss of important files, particularly if your business uses paper documents. Converting your data to an electronic form usually doesn't eliminate this risk either – all it takes is one of your employees accidentally deleting an important agreement, or a software error causing a loss of data. Loan management software addresses this vulnerability by making multiple backups. In the case of cloud solutions, the data is sent to a remote server; the server then also automatically synchronizes the files to ensure all users work with the same version of all documents.
Document Backup in OneCore
OneCore backs up the entire database, including documents, to a storage location of your choice. The solution can also be integrated with your document management system to ensure documents are backed up in accordance with your settings. Alternatively, users have the option to use any cloud storage service. In that case, however, the user has to back up and secure their access to the documents on their own.
