Mitigating Operational Risk and Insider Threat in Financial Ecosystems: A Hybrid Neutrosophic Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Framework for the Evaluation of Secure Enterprise Browsers

Abstract

Background: The digitization of the financial services sector has shifted operational risk from physical trading floors to distributed digital interfaces. Historical precedents of massive financial losses, such as the JP Morgan "London Whale" incident and the Société Générale rogue trading scandal, highlight catastrophic failures in governance and monitoring. As the web browser becomes the primary workspace for modern enterprises, it represents a critical, often unmanaged, vector for data exfiltration and unauthorized activity.

Methods: This study proposes a novel evaluation framework for selecting Secure Enterprise Browser (SEB) solutions to mitigate these risks. Recognizing the complexity and ambiguity inherent in cybersecurity decision-making, we employ a hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach. Specifically, we integrate Single-Valued Neutrosophic Sets (SVNS) with the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to determine criteria weights, followed by the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to rank technology alternatives.

Results: The analysis reveals that within the financial context, "Granular Policy Enforcement" and "Auditability" significantly outweigh "Implementation Cost." The Neutrosophic analysis demonstrates that specialized SEBs provide a superior governance capability compared to traditional browsers patched with extensions.

Conclusion: The study establishes that adopting Secure Enterprise Browsers is not merely an IT upgrade but a strategic imperative for risk containment. The proposed Neutrosophic framework offers a robust mathematical tool for CISOs to justify security investments amidst uncertainty.