IT FEELS as though cyber risk has crept up on us without warning and with great intensity.
We have come a long way from the days when our palm pilots had to be hot-sync’d through a docking station and the occasional hazard was from viruses transmitted as e-mail attachments. Over the years, we have embraced extreme connectivity combined with extreme automation in a never-ending drive towards convenience and cost-efficiency.
However, even as banks continue to nudge, cajole (and perhaps occasionally threaten) their customers towards impersonal e-channels, we learn about record amounts of losses from online fraud and theft. Furthermore, all of us – not just the specialists – are asked to act as conscription soldiers in the fight against this threat.
According to a report by Accenture, almost eight out of 10 business leaders believe that they are adopting new technologies faster than they can address related security issues. It also estimates that nearly US$350 billion of value could be lost by the banking sector to cybercrime in the next five years.
With more of our devices integrated through the Internet of Things and more of our services provided by an assemblage of…
