Following the news that Swift, the global financial network, has warned its customers it is aware of “a number of recent cyber incidents” where attackers had sent fraudulent messages over its systems, Kane Hardy, VP EMEA at security company, Hexis Cyber Solutions commented below on whats steps financial services should take in the wake of these attacks.
Kane Hardy, VP EMEA at security company, Hexis Cyber Solutions :
“UK bankers fear cyber attacks more than a faltering economy or political interference, and with good reason. In 2016, no financial institution is safe from cyber warfare. Everyone from big banks to lenders, payment systems, clearing houses and security exchanges is a target. In order to protect valuable assets, every financial institution needs to assume a state of continuous compromise.
“To build effective governance strategies and ensure financial institutions can quickly recover if attacked, organisations need to beat cyber criminals at their own game – responding to any threats at machine speed.
“Understanding the environment is the first step to having a single view of where sensitive information lives. Equally important is knowing which operating systems have the highest criticality, value and importance. Finally adopting a behaviour-based approach to information security that correlates activity on the endpoint and network is vital to gaining increased visibility into the threat activity within an environment.
“Criminals are now lurking in the shadows waiting to ambush financial institutions with a number of tactics at their disposal. While they are adopting a stealthier approach, attacks will remain explosive and fast in the foreseeable future.”
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