Moving Targets: A Look into Today’s Cybersecurity Landscape
In today’s world, a single unsuspecting click can expose an entire organization to financial loss, reputational damage, and regulatory penalties. As our workspaces evolve and data flows faster than ever—while markets demand that transactions only require a few taps, and information flows seamlessly across borders—financial service providers face an unprecedented cybersecurity landscape.
Understanding cybersecurity is no longer optional—it is vital for protecting companies and customers alike. Join us as we sit down with Jose Carro, Axletree’s Managing Director for Latin America & Head of Information Security, to discuss cutting-edge developments and implications for the future of cybersecurity.
In Part 1, we explore how the digital threat landscape has shifted, why endpoint protection and user awareness are more critical than ever, how even the smallest actions can have massive consequences—and how to stay one step ahead.
From Locked-Down to Wide-Open
Not too long ago, financial institutions and their service providers favored on-premises solutions ensconced behind layers of firewalls. These closed environments were never risk-free, but threats were limited by geography and physical location. In 2025, however, everything is cloud-enabled, accessible from anywhere, and expected to integrate quickly.
While these changes have dramatically improved accessibility and user experience, they have also expanded the attack surface that security teams must defend. “Everyone wants to have everything now, and with easy access… They want to plug and play,” Carro says. “But at the same time… you expose more risk because you start opening applications to the world, to the Internet. That is the challenge that I see—that the market is demanding you to expose more.”
This evolution reflects a fundamental change in how we think about security architecture. The old castle-and-moat approach, where external threats were kept at bay by strong perimeter defenses, has become obsolete in a world where the perimeter itself has become fluid and dispersed. In response, organizations are forced to strengthen their cybersecurity posture. Between implementing robust frameworks (like SOC 2 and Swift’s Shared Infrastructure Programme) and carrying out constant audits, organizations must internalize the fact that they must continually adapt to address evolving cyber threats.
The Wild West of WFH
One of the biggest shifts has been the COVID-19 pandemic-catalyzed move to work from home (WFH). When all employees were on-site, companies had more control—network segmentation, firewalls, and monitored gateways were standard. With employees at home, however, many of those defenses have been rendered ineffective. Most home offices have only a simple consumer-grade router between the user’s device and the internet.
“Before, someone working remotely was an exception. Now they tend to be the rule,” observes Carro. “When employees are in the office, security has a hundred percent of control. You can implement security controls. In employees’ personal houses, you cannot do much from a segmentation point of view.”
This new reality has forced organizations to rethink their security strategies from the ground up. Carro believes that it is better to work with the currents—or, in this case, the markets—than against them. “People are not related to specific and static locations anymore. You have to adapt security measures in order to respect that, to be aligned to the reality of our evolving cybersecurity landscape.”
A Technical Shield: Endpoint Protection
As a result, businesses have had to pivot toward installing security tools directly on work devices, to detect and mitigate threats before they worm their way into the corporate network. “Before, we were thinking of security from the defense point of view,” says Carro. “Now, what is exposed is the computer and the employee. So now we are implementing protection on the [work] device itself, and those security solutions are known as endpoint protection.”
Modern endpoint protection is far more than antivirus software. It involves real-time monitoring for suspicious activity—anomalous connections, unexpected file modifications, and processes that deviate from a user’s baseline. “[For example,] if [a user’s] computer is connecting to countries outside of the user’s baseline,” Carro says, “These kinds of deviations are the ones that the endpoints detect.”
Endpoints must defend themselves because they are no longer cocooned within a single, physically secure location. Additionally, strong policies around patch management and access control are key to reducing the attack surface. These controls serve as an early warning system, alerting security teams to potential compromises before they can escalate into major breaches.
The Human Firewall
Carro is quick to emphasize, however, that even the best technical controls mean little if human users are easily tricked. Phishing is still one of the most common and devastating cyberattacks in the cybersecurity landscape. Clever social engineering campaigns now mimic real executives—complete with “urgent” requests that encourage employees to click suspicious links or send funds.
“A phishing attack is one of the biggest threats that any company can have right now,” says Carro. “Why? They use techniques like urgency, for example, to make the user click [suspicious] links. So you can’t just implement technical restrictions. It’s not enough.”
The solution? Continuous training and awareness—for both employees and security teams. Regular phishing simulations teach employees what to watch out for, while giving security teams opportunities to keep up with the latest techniques in cybersecurity attacks.
“In the training, we try to apply new techniques, because they are always evolving,” Carro says. “Bad actors say, ‘This [strategy] is not working—okay, let’s try it in this way instead.’” Cybersecurity teams are hard-pressed to keep up with the breakneck pace of phishing technique evolution, which is experiencing a burst of activity with the help of artificial intelligence tools. Employees must stay vigilant for everything from “vishing” (voice phishing) to “smishing” (SMS phishing) to “spear phishing”, where certain people are targeted with specific information of relevance and interest.
If staying safe seems hopeless in today’s world, employees may take comfort in their ability to deploy the best safety strategy of all—good, old-fashioned common sense. As Carro puts it, “The rule of thumb is, if you think that something is wrong, don’t do anything. When you see messaging that shows urgency, it’s a fake e-mail, because no company will tell you to do something urgently over email… Just call the person. You have other channels to contact the person. Say, ‘I’m receiving this from you is, is this correct?’ Double verification is always important.”
Ultimately, Carro emphasizes the importance of employee buy-in to keeping organizations safe. “If you don’t have the right training, you can get taken advantage of. It’s very important to participate in the training… because cybersecurity threats are always evolving.”
Wrapping Up—And What’s Next
To stay cyber-resilient in a WFH world, organizations need strong endpoint protection alongside informed, vigilant employees. Organizations must foster a culture where security awareness becomes second nature. This includes understanding basic principles like:
- Verifying urgent requests through alternative communication channels
- Recognizing that legitimate business processes rarely demand immediate, unverified action
- Understanding that security is everyone’s responsibility, not just the domain of IT
By embracing secure remote work practices, investing in advanced endpoint protection, and prioritizing user education, organizations can create a robust shield against cyber threats. Whether employees are working from home or in the office, the key is to layer technology and training, ensuring tools like modern endpoint security solutions and constant phishing-awareness efforts go hand in hand.
But cybersecurity doesn’t end here. New challenges keep popping into existence, and, as we touched on briefly, both the defense and threat landscapes are being radically shifted by the emergence of artificial intelligence tools. Stay tuned for Part 2 of our cybersecurity series, where we explore the new frontier of AI in the cybersecurity landscape, including its promise—and the perils we need to watch out for.
Interested in speaking with someone to learn more? Connect with us at Axletree to learn how we’re leveraging the latest cybersecurity solutions to safeguard our clients’ financial data. Reach out to our team to get a free consultation with one of our connectivity and cybersecurity experts!
January 22, 2025
