News headlines stating that cyber attacks against the financial services industry have increased 1,000 percent from 2017 to 2018 would have undoubtedly caused panic among finance professionals across all sectors.
The data, which was obtained by tax and consultancy firm RSM after a freedom of information request from the FCA, actually refers to the number of reports of cyber attacks increasing. This is an important distinction as reports may have increased tenfold, but that does not necessarily mean that attacks are on the rise.
Third Parties
However, what should be making those within finance sit up and think is that research by the Ponemon Institute suggests that around two-thirds of cyber attacks are linked to third parties in the supply chain, such as payroll and other external providers. No business is an island and we all have to work with third parties in one capacity or another. For instance, businesses are likely to share resources online with a number of third parties such as vendors, potential new clients, new partners or acquisitions. Also, as organisations look to expand or improve efficiencies, they are likely to employ outside contractors.
This could be down to…
