Experts Raise Red Flags as Banks Romance Social Media

Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in the banks and other financial institutions have been urged to be on the alert to ensure watertight security of their networks as financial institutions increasingly use social media to engage customers.

Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, BBM channels, among others, are offering banks the agility to sense and respond to their customers faster than ever, but at the backend, the CIOs are battling with the challenge of mitigating internet security risks in addition to seamless network connectivity.

Nazim Fraijat, managing director, Levant, and Emerging Africa (LEMA) at EMC, said that businesses are beginning to understand why they need to redefine their IT and refocus on emerging technologies that will empower them, as there is a strong need to move from “siloed” infrastructure models to enterprise hybrid cloud solutions that empower organizations to adopt agile, elastic, on-demand laaS within their datacenters.

This trend, he said, will be beneficial to IT companies, developers, end users and line-of-business owners.

Nodding in agreement, Abiye Koko, chief information officer (CIO), Diamond Bank, told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek that the increasingly broadband availability and affordability in the country will cause “disruptions”, in the Nigeria’s banking system, cumulating to customer-centric processes.

He however warned that internet security cannot be overlooked, harping for more collaboration among CIOs, CFOs, CEOs, and others in the chain of command to tackle the challenges involved.