Global financial services CISOs and CIOs have seen increased cybersecurity attacks since Covid-19.
Large financial services firms have suffered a cyber-attack in the last 12 months, according to new research from data security provider HelpSystems.
The research shows 65 per cent of global FS firms suffered an attack. It also showed the impact that Covid-19 is having on FS firms’ cybersecurity, with 45 per cent of respondents reporting an increase in cyber-attacks since the pandemic first emerged. Securing the remote workforce has become a key objective for 42 per cent of FS firms, while almost half (47 per cent) have already increased their investment in secure collaboration tools.
About 92 per cent of FS organisations have increased their cybersecurity investment over the previous 12 months, 26 per cent significantly so. The main investment priorities for CISOs over the next 12 months include secure file transfer (64 per cent), protecting the remote workforce (63 per cent) and cloud/Office365 (56 per cent).
The research, Cybersecurity Challenges in Financial Services, revealed that the two threats with most potential to cause damage were cybersecurity weaknesses in the supply chain (46 per cent) and increased working from home due to Covid-19 (36 per cent). The extent to which Covid-19 has impacted cybersecurity strategies in FS firms around the world was clear. Around one-third of respondents had reacted quickly to update their regulatory best practices and 46 per cent had re-evaluated their cybersecurity training and policies to better reflect the increased home working.
Almost half of respondents felt that Covid-19 has accelerated changes that were already in discussions, such as a move to Office 365. Such changes form part of broader digital transformation strategies, which was seen as the main challenge facing FS, both now and in three years’ time.
