Government financial technology environments can hold everything from employee and supplier information to banking details, grant records, payment data, and other sensitive financial information. Protecting that data isn’t only about whether an individual application is secure. Agencies also need to understand who can access financial information, where that information lives, how it moves between systems, and who is responsible for it.
For governments, this is especially important when adding specialized technology around an ERP or other core financial system. A budgeting platform may receive actuals from the ERP while procurement software exchanges purchasing information with financial systems. On the other side, payment technology may send transaction information back to the system of record.
Government agencies evaluating financial software should look for strong access controls and authentication, segregation of duties, data protection, auditability, continuity and recovery capabilities, secure integrations, and clear data governance. The specific security standards and requirements that apply will depend on the agency, the data involved, the deployment model, and the financial processes the technology supports.
Key Takeaways
- Government financial software security depends on a combination of access controls, authentication, data protection, auditability, continuity, and governance.
- Agencies should identify the information a system will handle and the applicable requirements before evaluating security capabilities.
- Security requirements extend to integrations and the information moving between systems, not just individual applications.
- Data governance should establish which system is authoritative, who is responsible for the information, who can access it, and how it moves.
- The security standards and requirements that apply depend on the government agency, data, jurisdiction, deployment model, and financial processes involved.
What Types of Data Do Government Financial Systems Need to Protect?
Government financial technology doesn’t handle just one kind of information. Depending on the system and the processes it supports, that may include:
- Employee data: Payroll, benefits, direct deposit information, and other personnel costs.
- Supplier data: Banking information, contracts, purchasing records, and payment details.
- Grant data: Applications, awards, drawdowns, subrecipient information, reporting, and compliance documentation.
- Payment and constituent data: Transaction information and other records associated with payments to or from the public.
- Core financial data: Budgets, general ledger information, expenditures, revenues, and other records used to manage and account for public funds.
Not every type of information carries the same risks or requirements. Before evaluating security features, agencies should understand what information a system will store, process, receive, or transmit and what requirements apply to that information.
Instead of asking only, “Is this software secure?” ask, “Is it appropriate for the information and financial processes we need it to support?”
What Security Features Are Essential for Public Sector Financial Applications?
No single feature makes government financial software secure. Security depends on a combination of controls that manage access, protect information, create accountability, and help the organization respond when something goes wrong.
For agencies evaluating financial technology, several capabilities deserve special attention:
Access Controls and Permissions
Not everyone who uses a financial system needs access to the same information or functionality. A department employee creating a purchase request may not need the same permissions as someone approving it. Consider whether the software lets the organization control access based on users’ roles and responsibilities, limit privileged access, and adjust permissions as responsibilities change.
Authentication and Identity Management
Access controls only work if the system can reliably verify who is accessing it. Agencies should think about how a financial application supports their authentication requirements and existing identity-management practices, including multifactor authentication.
Segregation of Duties in Financial Workflows
Financial processes may require separating responsibilities within a process. For example, the person initiating a transaction may not be the right person to approve it. Financial technology should support required approval structures and separation of responsibilities, rather than forcing staff to manage those controls outside the system.
Encryption and Data Protection
Agencies should understand how sensitive information is protected both while it is stored and while it moves between systems. This is especially important when a financial application exchanges information with an ERP or other government system, because security needs to extend to the data exchange, not stop at each application boundary.
Logging and Auditability
Government financial operations should make important activity traceable, including relevant logins, administrative actions, approvals, and changes to financial information. Agencies should consider what to record, how to protect and retain logs, and whether they can support investigations and audit requirements.
Business Continuity and Recovery
Agencies also need to consider what happens when a system or its data becomes unavailable. Look at backup, recovery, incident response, and continuity capabilities in the context of the financial processes the technology supports. An outage affecting a time-sensitive payment or payroll process could create different risks than one affecting a less time-sensitive workflow.
Euna Payments provides one example of how several of these security capabilities can work together in a government financial application. The platform is a PCI Level 1 compliant service provider and SOC 2 Type I and Type II certified, with TLS 1.2 protecting sensitive customer data in transit and AES-256 encryption for data at rest. Euna Payments also maintains geographically distributed infrastructure, disaster recovery planning, continuous security monitoring, and independent vulnerability scanning and penetration testing.
Which Cybersecurity Standards and Compliance Frameworks Apply to GovTech?
No single set of security certifications or frameworks applies to every local government financial application. NIST CSF 2.0 provides cybersecurity risk management guidance, while NIST SP 800-53 provides a catalog of security and privacy controls.
Additional requirements depend on the data, agency, jurisdiction, and deployment:
- PCI DSS: Applies to payment account data.
- IRS Publication 1075: Establishes safeguards for federal tax information government agencies receive.
- CJIS Security Policy: The FBI’s policy governing protection of criminal justice information.
- FedRAMP: Governs when cloud services fall within scope for federal agencies.
- GovRAMP (formerly StateRAMP): The state, local, and education counterpart, built on the same NIST SP 800-53 controls.
Requirements can also vary by jurisdiction. Euna Payments, for example, received TX-RAMP Level 2 authorization for handling sensitive Texas state agency data.
Collecting as many certifications as possible is beside the point. What matters is identifying which requirements apply to the agency’s data and use case, then determining whether the technology and deployment model can meet them.
How Do Integrations Affect Government Financial Software Security and Requirements?
An integration opens a path for government data to move. Whether budgeting actuals come from an ERP, procurement information moves into a financial system, or payment information is posted back to the ERP, agencies need to understand what information is exchanged, where it goes, how it’s transmitted, and who or what can access it.
For every significant integration, agencies should be able to answer:
What data moves? Don’t treat “ERP integration” as one generic connection. Identify the information being exchanged.
Where does it move? Know the source and destination and which system remains authoritative for that information.
How is it protected? Understand how information is protected during transmission and how access to the integration is controlled.
Who or what has access? System-to-system access deserves attention alongside individual user access.
What activity is recorded? Determine whether you can trace important activity when information moves between systems, or when something goes wrong.
What happens if the connection fails? Understand which processes depend on the exchange, how failures are identified, and what staff need to do when information can’t move as expected.
The goal isn’t to connect everything to everything. It’s to make sure necessary information can move between systems without losing control over access, accountability, or which system owns the authoritative record.
Establishing Data Governance Policies for Connected Government Systems
Security controls protect information. Data governance establishes which system owns it, who is responsible for it, who can use or change it, how it moves, and what happens to it over time. Those questions are even more important when financial operations span several systems.
For important financial data, agencies should establish:
The authoritative source. Which system owns the official record?
Access responsibility. Who determines who can see, create, change, approve, or export the information?
Data movement. Which other systems receive the information, and why do they need it?
Access changes. What happens when someone’s responsibilities change, or they leave the organization?
Auditability. Can the agency determine when important information or records were accessed or changed?
Retention and disposal. How long must the information remain available, and what happens when it no longer needs to be retained?
Portability and exit. If the agency stops using a system, how does it retrieve the information in a usable format, and what happens to the remaining copies?
Accountability. Who owns the business process, the data, and the technical connections supporting it?
You can also establish data ownership explicitly. For example, Euna Grants customers retain ownership of the data and materials their authorized users submit, while role-based security and granular permissions control access to modules, features, and individual records. Activity logs also allow administrators to review user-level activity such as logins, logouts, and object access.
Responsibilities won’t necessarily be the same for every financial process. Finance, procurement, grants, HR, program staff, IT, and security teams may each have responsibilities depending on the information and systems involved. The goal isn’t to force every application into one governance model, but to make responsibilities and requirements clear as information moves through the financial technology environment.
What Should Agencies Evaluate Before Adding New Financial Technology?
Before adding or replacing government financial software, map the proposed technology against the data, systems, and processes you already have.
Ask | What you’re trying to establish |
What information will the system handle? | Data sensitivity and applicable requirements |
Which system owns that information today? | Authoritative source |
Who needs access? | Roles, permissions, and separation of responsibilities |
What systems will exchange information? | Integration requirements |
How will the information be protected? | Security controls |
What activity needs to be traceable? | Logging and auditability |
Who owns the data and business process? | Governance responsibility |
How would we retrieve our data if we left? | Portability and exit rights |
What happens if the system or integration is unavailable? | Continuity and operational impact |
The answers may show different needs. Sometimes the need is a missing security capability. Sometimes data ownership isn’t clear. Sometimes an integration hasn’t been designed around the actual workflow. And sometimes the technology works, but the organization hasn’t clearly defined who is responsible for the information moving through it.
Government financial technology doesn’t have to live in one system to be secure and governable. But agencies do need to understand what information they have, where it goes, who can access it, which system is authoritative, and who is responsible for protecting it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to secure government financial software?
Securing government financial software requires implementing a combination of role-based access controls, multi-factor authentication, and robust data governance policies. Agencies must assess data sensitivity and ensure all financial system integrations maintain clear auditability and accountability for every transaction or data exchange.
Why is data governance important for financial systems?
Data governance establishes clear ownership and responsibility for information within government financial systems. It defines who can access, change, or export data, ensuring agencies maintain regulatory compliance and protect the integrity of public funds as information moves between connected applications, such as ERP systems and specialized procurement software.
How do agencies manage security for financial system integrations?
Managing security for financial system integrations involves mapping every data flow between applications to understand what information is exchanged and how it is protected. Agencies must ensure that security protocols extend beyond application boundaries to include transmission, system-to-system access, and comprehensive logging to trace all administrative and financial activities.
What security standards apply to government financial technology?
Government financial technology must adhere to various security standards, including NIST CSF 2.0 and NIST SP 800-53. Depending on the data, agencies may also require compliance with PCI DSS for payments, IRS Publication 1075 for tax information, or FedRAMP and GovRAMP certifications for cloud-based services and infrastructure security.