Businesses should beat cyber crime through intelligence sharing

AS FINANCIAL services evolve to deliver more convenient, faster and frictionless services to users, the attack surface of the industry grows exponentially - and with it, the risks of cyber crime. While cyber crime is a competitive business, attackers rarely work alone. We must learn from our adversaries - and share intelligence on them, the way they do on us.

The International Data Corporation (IDC) estimated in its Worldwide Security Forecast that global spending on security would reach US$151 billion by 2023. But with the paradigm shift of not only customers but also employees going virtual nearly overnight because of Covid-19, cyber criminals are taking advantage of new opportunities, so that spending may need to increase substantially.

Financial services around the globe are now primarily functioning with employees working outside of the traditional office to reduce the threat from Covid-19. This dispersed workforce provides cyber criminals increased opportunities to target staff and company data. Financial institutions, large and small, now have proprietary corporate data accessed from non-secure environments, which may not have the same level of firewall and security as the normal in-office setup.