Top 3 cybersecurity trends: What financial services companies need to know in 2023

Kay Oldham Date published: Dec 15, 22

2022 has seen difficult trading conditions around the globe – and continued turbulence and market instability dominates the outlook for 2023.

Factors such as the war in Ukraine and the financial pressures being felt globally – all while the recovery from the pandemic is still an ongoing concern, make for the perfect environment for hackers to thrive.

Historically, cybersecurity has been the responsibility of the IT team, with a low-level commitment from everyone to complete mandatory training from time to time. However, with ever increasing threats and the continued evolution of methods for attack, organisations must put cybersecurity at the forefront of everyone’s agenda – it must become embedded within the culture of how the company does business.

When a cyber-attack happens on average once every 39 seconds, it’s an operational necessity to be prepared for when, not if, your company comes under attack.
The value and nature of data managed by companies in the financial services sector make them a natural target for hackers. With one in four malware attacks target financial services firms, at an average cost per company of $18.3m , we have tailored our 2023 Cybersecurity report to this sector – however the key takeaways can be applied to any organization who wishes to best protect themselves from the risks posed.

Cybersecurity remains top priority

A staggering 82% of Chief Audit Executives ranked cyber security and data security in their top five risks, a figure which has increased year on year– and the Bank of England cites cyberattacks as the biggest single risk to the UK financial system .

The concreting of remote working is perhaps one of the biggest shifts brought about by the pandemic, and organisations must look to ways they can extend their on-site level security into the minds – and homes of their workers if they want to best protect themselves.

Elsewhere, the rise of the Internet Of Things and AI give attackers new routes to reach their victims – however the positive effects of each cannot be ignored by organisations wishing to innovate how they interact with customers in the future.

The cost of attacks is increasing

In 2023, the cost of cyber-attacks is expected to hit $8 trillion , or $255,000 per second. By the end of 2025, the financial damage caused by cyber-attacks is expected to reach $10.5 trillion annually – up from $6t in 2021. In fact, if cybercrime was a country, it would be the third largest economy in the world behind the US and China.
Even unsuccessful attacks can lead to the disruption of usual business activities, damage to brand reputation and financial loss and can take significant time and resource to recover from, especially when you’re in a sector where security and trust is fundamental to your business.

Human error poses the biggest threat

Whether it’s through successful phishing attempts or careless negligence, human error is the cause for 95% of cybersecurity breaches .

However, human error is one area which your business can have a direct impact on with thorough training and having the right systems in place. By reducing the channels for hackers to enter your business, and ensuring staff are in the best position to spot red flags and respond accordingly, businesses save themselves from the expense and damage from a cyberattack.

Join our webinar to find out more

On Thursday 26 January 2023, we’ll be joined by a panel of experts to discuss the findings of the Ideagen Huddle cybersecurity report.

[1] Better Safe Than Sorry: Cyber Security Statistics and Trends for 2022 (dataprot.net)

[2] Cyber Threat Intelligence Report

[3] Risk in Focus | Research reports| Policy and research | IIA

[4] Cyberattacks biggest risk to UK financial system - Bank of England (techmonitor.ai)

[5] Cybercrime To Cost The World $10.5 Trillion Annually By 2025 (cybersecurityventures.com)

[6] Report: Phishing by Industry Benchmarking Report | KnowBe4