Being a cyber security chief has never been easy – that is why they command such high salaries – but a new report suggests that those who work in financial services have the toughest job of the lot, after revealing that more than half of global finance firms have been hit by a cyber attack in the past year, with 40% suffering a data breach.
So says the 2017 Thales Data Threat Report, Financial Edition which also shows that just over a fifth (21%) of financial businesses have been the subject of repeated attacks.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given this all-out assault on the sector 90% of firms feel more vulnerable to attacks, mainly to a lack of appropriate protection.
Issued in conjunction with analyst firm 451 Research, the report shows that businesses in the financial sector are struggling with evolving regulations, new technical demands and rising cyber crime – all leading to an increase in data breaches.
However, a majority of firms (78%) are increasing investment in cyber security solutions to protect critical data.
They are also upgrading from legacy platforms to more up-to-date systems, reflecting changes in consumer and marketplace preferences, although many of these changes are also creating new data security problems.
Almost all respondents (92%) said they plan to deploy advanced technologies – such as Internet of Things devices, cloud, and big data – this year, but three quarters will do so in advance of having the right data security mechanisms in place.
In terms of threats, many respondents felt that privileged users pose the biggest insider threats, while executive staff (48%) and contractors (38%) follow.
Thales e-Security vice president of strategy Peter Galvin said: “Data breaches continue to hit the headlines and, as recently illustrated by the Equifax breach, the financial services industry is a prime target for hackers.
“As digitisation continues to transform the industry’s online infrastructures it is critical organizations implement data security solutions that follow the data – wherever it is created, shared or stored.”
