Every industry experiences cybercrime, but probably none more than financial services, at an average annualized cost of $13.5 million. If you look at the Breach Level Index, you will notice that some type of security breach occurs at financial institutions almost daily. These breaches can involve anywhere from a handful of records to tens of millions.
In a newsletter from earlier this year, the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) shared several threats to look out for in 2016. While most are not new, the number of occurrences continues to increase.
Business E-mail Compromise (BEC): BEC is a method of fraud that uses a legitimate or spoofed email address to send wire transfer instructions to employees of the same company, in an effort to extort money. There have also been incidents in which a vendor’s or supplier’s email address has been compromised, requesting a last-minute modification to a bank account number.
Manipulation of Data: Changing dollar amounts owed to a client and routing the funds to a criminal is just the beginning. Hackers and individuals with insider information are stealing, deleting, or simply manipulating data, resulting in significant financial losses.
Malvertising: The use of online or mobile advertising to spread intrusive software continues to threaten financial services firms. Once victims are infected with a virus or another form of malware, cybercriminals can obtain access to consumer accounts.
DDoS Attacks: Distributed denial-of-service, more often referred to as DDoS, causes a disruption to systems and business operations. Wikipedia compares it to “a group of people crowding the entry door or gate to a shop or business, and not letting legitimate parties enter into the shop or business, disrupting normal operations.” According to FS-ISAC, DDoS attacks are now regularly expected and even reaching the level of “business as usual.” Many of the top financial institutions have been targets of DDoS attacks, which have led to paying out ransoms and other forms of revenue loss.
Companies like Raymond James Financial and Banco Santander Río use cutting-edge firewalls with integrated monitoring solutions to protect their network and client assets. Not only do these technologies directly safeguard against cyber threats, they provide visibility into network traffic patterns to help identify potential viruses and malware before they wreak havoc.
Data breaches can be devastating to a brand in terms of consumer trust, and can have catastrophic legal implications. While cybersecurity involves technical elements, it also encompasses legal elements, business management, and human factors. To mitigate risk and maintain the growth you are looking to achieve, you need to be prepared to deploy strategies and technologies to protect themselves from the threats you face every day.
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