Banking has long been recognised as one of the sectors with the most mature and collaborative approaches to cyber security. But it also remains constantly under threat, as hackers rapidly adopt emerging technologies to find new ways to breach defences.
According to Bill Borden, corporate vice-president of worldwide financial services for Microsoft, this presents financial companies with a unique challenge: “Creating high-friction experiences for cybercriminals, fraudsters and money launderers while delivering low-friction customer experiences.”
Banks, in particular, have found themselves more exposed to hackers in recent years — despite being part of most countries’ critical infrastructure — because of their digital transformation and moves to cloud computing, which bring a reliance on a web of third-, fourth- or even fifth-party suppliers.
Not only must they protect their own assets and data from both criminal groups and nation-state hackers, they must also protect their clients from falling foul of scams or identity theft, for example. Given the amount of sensitive personal information they hold on customers, as well as their funds, they remain a prime target…
