Mimecast comment - Bank of England Systemic Risk Survey
June 2018 by Pete Banham, cyber resilience expert at Mimecast
Following the news from the Bank of England on its new Systemic Risk Survey, the comments from Pete Banham, cyber resilience expert at Mimecast.
Due to the significant amount of legacy systems that financial services hold, it is no surprise that cyber-risks and fraud are rising for these firms.
Legacy systems make it difficult for financial institutions to implement change, let alone embed new processes and technology to help with cybersecurity. This is where new, challenger financial brands can stand out from the crowd. The fact that Monzo was able to identify the Ticketmaster data breach early offers new hope for quickly identifying financial fraud and highlights the benefits of innovation.
However impersonation fraud, particularly via email, continues to grow and remain dangerous no matter how up-to-date the technology. Cybercriminals rely on the inherent trust in email to launch attacks that wreak havoc for businesses across all industries. There is also a major supply chain risk, as attackers could use an employee as a stepping stone to launch impersonation attacks against a bank’s suppliers and corporate customers.
More needs to be done ensure organisations, not just those in the financial sector, remain cyber resilient. This needs to span beyond security and look at continuity, remediation and recovery to ensure businesses can get back on their feet if something does get through. Accountability also shouldn’t be limited to the IT team. As every employee is a potential route into the business, ongoing education for all is critical.