14 DAY TRIAL // During 2015, financial institutes have learned to fear cybercrime, reveals a recent survey carried out by Cyber Security Forum Initiative (CSFI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The study, for which 672 bankers from 52 countries were interviewed, reveals how financial specialists are assessing risk inside the banking sector.
According to the survey's data, criminality rose in 2015 to the number two position, behind "macro-economic environment" as one of the most considerable risks to banking institutes. A year earlier, criminality was ranked ninth in the same study.
Bankers fear criminality more this year because of the cybercrime element
Most bankers explained their answers by pointing the finger at the grave damages cybercriminals can do to their businesses, not only in reputation but also in financial losses that usually come with data breaches or sustained DDoS attacks.
A breakdown of the answers reveals that bankers rank criminality fourth in their top 10 risks, industry observers rank it second, and risk managers view it as the third biggest threat.
Additionally, criminality ranked third in answers from European bankers, as the third risk from Far East Pacific respondents, and number one in North America, where most data breaches are generally recorded, as another study revealed a few months ago.
Awareness of cybercrime has grown in 2015
Out of all 672 respondents, only five bankers gave criminality a score of 1 out of 5 when it came to importance, showing that, in 2016, most banks will be probably more aware of cyber-threats than ever before.
With cases like the DDoS-for-Bitcoin extortion scheme on Greek banks and the blackmail of a UAE bank after its servers were hacked, it's hard to believe that the banking sector has not learned its lesson regarding cybercrime in 2015, and this study comes to prove it.
"Tax evasion and money laundering are two threats that can be managed and controlled. Cyber-attacks are a different animal," said one banking industry observer living in the US.
His opinion was also shared by Simon Samuels, banking consultant in the UK, who explained that "we may at some point see a cyber-attack so powerful on an individual bank that it has the power to bring down the institution, necessitating a state bailout."
The full Banking Banana Skins 2015 report is available online. The study talks mostly about banking-related topics, and the references to cybercrime are on page 16.