Financial services was attacked more than any other industry in 2016 – 65 percent more than the average organisation across all industries, according to research from IBM’s X-Force Research team.
As a result, the number of financial services records breached rocketed 937 percent in 2016 to more than 200 million. While the financial services industry was targeted the most by cyber-attacks in 2016, the X-Force Threat Intelligence Index suggests it ranked third by industry for the number of breached records – likely due to investments in security practices.
The financial gains associated with corporate and customer data available in the financial sector proved appetising to cybercriminals, the researchers say. Financial institutions were forced to defend against a 29 percent increase in the number of attacks from 2015. In 2016, cybercriminals were able to steal significantly more records with a flat year-over-year number of publicly disclosed incidents tracked by IBM.
Nick Bradley, Practice Lead, IBM X-Force Threat Research, said: “Cybercriminals have always gone where there is money to be made. While financial services has been a highly targeted industry by cybercriminals, in previous years, their main focus shifted to other more lucrative industries like healthcare or retail. However, in 2016 we saw a significant resurgence to financial services as criminals decided to go directly to the source money.”
Insiders
In looking at ways the financial services sector was attacked in 2016, the report found that the industry was more affected by insider (58 percent) than outsider attacks (42 percent). The research suggests that malicious activity inside an organisation can be a result of an inadvertent act (53 percent) such as an employee accidentally being tricked to download a malware-laden document through a phishing email which then gives attackers access to information. Many of these attacks occur without the user being aware of it.
Some countries saw a marked increase in financial cybercrime in 2016. Cybercriminals sharpened their focus on business bank accounts by using malware such as Dridex, Neverquest, GozNym and TrickBot to target business banking, the research found. It identified TrickBot malware campaigns targeting less common brands such as private banks, wealth management companies, and high value accounts.
To download a copy of the report, visit: https://ibm.co/2oInWbs.
Comment
Rob Norris, VP Head of Enterprise and Cyber Security EMEIA at Fujitsu, said: “Today’s report highlights a lack of awareness of the risk of cyber-attacks in the financial services sector. Cyber criminals are entrepreneurial, well-sourced and motivated and today’s report once again demonstrates that the threat of cyber-attacks is very real. In an era where data is becoming the new currency, all personal and professional data needs to be properly protected, especially with GDPR regulations fast approaching. While reports such as this will encourage regulators and firms to approach cyber security from a risk perspective to identify any weak links, CIOs in the banking industry are facing an unenviable challenge. Not only are banks operating with legacy systems that in some cases have been in existence for many years, it is also a sector where innovation across new banking channels, such as online and mobile, is creating complex multi-channel IT infrastructures. Indeed according to recent research from Fujitsu, only 12% of UK consumers trust banking on mobile banking apps – one of the lowest rates in Europe.
“Securing multi-channel environments while ensuring customer experience does not suffer isn’t easy, but with such sensitive data at stake the financial services industry simply cannot afford to get complacent about security. It needs to take a proactive approach to enable real-time threat reporting and fast solutions before a threat becomes a compromise. What is certain is the industry can no longer afford for cyber security not to be a number one priority.”
