Four Ways Financial Firms Can Handle Cyber Threats
Cyber threats are an increasingly serious risk, including for the financial sector. A report by FS-ISAC outlined four top priorities that can help the industry better protect itself.
Asia Pacific faces more than 2,500 cyberattacks per week resulting in annual costs of $1 trillion, according to a report by Spherical Insights. Such risks also apply to the financial sector which is facing increasing challenges due to its interconnectedness with the supply chain and its ongoing incorporation of emerging technologies.
In a separate report by FS-ISAC, it outlined four moves financial firms can take to «maintain stakeholder trust and stay ahead of nimble threat actors».
1. Fraud Prevention
First, increase investment in fraud prevention as threat actors leverage real-time payments and cryptocurrencies to make it «virtually impossible to recover ill-gotten funds».
Financial firms can implement «smart friction» which includes security measures to slow payment authorization. They should also break down silos between fraud and cyber teams with sharing of fraud intelligence being essential to effectively combat the cross-border, cross-sector nature of fraud.
2. Leverage AI
Second, firms can leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to combat the growing use of generative AI in attacks.
«Impersonation scams, such as deepfakes targeting C-suite executives and fake outsourced IT workers, will compel firms to prioritize foundational cyber hygiene practices, including robust employee training,» the report said.
3. Third-Party Risk Management
Third, strengthen effective third-party risk management as many institutions rely on the same service providers, increasing the likelihood of sector-wide impact.
Aside from an increased focus on API security to minimize chances of systems access in case of third-party attacks, new regulations will require more proactive monitoring of supplier security postures.
4. Post-Quantum Readiness
Fourth and finally, financial firms must begin the the process of migrating their most vulnerable assets to crypto-agile encryption algorithms that will be able to adapt quickly to the quantum age given advancements in the field.
«The ever-changing cyber threat landscape means each year is unprecedented in nature, with threat actors leveraging every available tool to disrupt operations and undermine trust in the financial sector,» said Teresa Walsh, FS-ISAC’s chief intelligence officer and managing director, EMEA.
«To ensure operational resilience, firms must adopt a forward-looking cyber posture that incorporates proactive threat modeling, agile defense capabilities, and cross-border collaboration.»
