We work with many of the biggest Financial Services (FS) enterprises in the US and hear first-hand about some of the cybersecurity challenges they face on a daily basis. It’s a tough world out there and it’s getting tougher, according to the findings in our recent survey of 250 global FS CISOs and CIOs.
Almost two-thirds of global FS firms have suffered a cyber-attack over the past 12 months and when you then factor in the growing cybersecurity threat posed by Covid-19, it becomes clear what a challenging environment it is in FS. Here in the US, 42% of FS firms have noticed an upturn in cyber-attacks since employees started working mostly from home in March 2020, and for 40% of US FS firms, securing the remote workforce has become a main cybersecurity objective.
Increased working from home during Covid-19 was identified as the cybersecurity threat with the biggest potential for damage for 72% of US FS firms, almost double the amount that said so elsewhere in the world. Ransomware attacks and cybersecurity weakness in the supply chain were the next biggest threats for US FS enterprises, showing the variety of attacks enterprises are facing.
Measures have already been taken to keep US FS firms protected while people work at home. 42% of US CISOs said that they have already increased investment in secure collaboration tools and almost half have had to re-evaluate cybersecurity training and policies to better reflect the increased home working.
The biggest area of cybersecurity investment for US FS firms over the next 12 months was protecting the remote workforce, with 84% saying that was the top investment priority, followed closely by data loss prevention tools (74%).
Digital transformation was the number one challenge for US FS firms, both now and in three years’ time. This highlights the principle dilemma CISOs face – how to maintain security now while also planning for the longer term? When you throw in the need to maintain regulatory compliance and battling internal cybersecurity fatigue as many of our US respondents are, the scale of the challenge is clear.
With the fallout from the pandemic likely to be with us for a good while yet, CISOs need to strike the balance between the present and the future. As well as focussing on educating employees and putting processes in place, it also centers on having the right technology tools and partners in place that can work with you to help solve your IT challenges.
Here at Fortra we work closely with customers to ensure their data is kept safe, secure, and compliant. Our data security solutions facilitate the proper handling of sensitive or valuable data, allowing our customers to achieve and maintain compliance through the management and control of data at rest, in use and in motion. We are also experts in automation, and as 56% of US CISOs agree that Covid-19 has increased the need for automation to free up IT staff from manual tasks, we know that this is a future focus for many organizations.
The full report, which includes findings from the US and from elsewhere around the world, can be found here. Download the report >
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