Bank managers must regularly test their cybersecurity defences
Fast-moving, dynamic threats are creating new challenges every day. That means institutions must put the right people and the right resources in place to tackle potential security breaches
Dear bank executive, how secure do you think your banking system is?
Probably not secure enough.
Accenture research shows that while many senior bank executives are confident about their cybersecurity strategy, a lack of comprehensive, practical testing is leaving gaps in their defence.
That should concern bank management teams in Hong Kong.
Our report, “Building Confidence: Solving Banking’s Cybersecurity Conundrum”, is based on a global survey of 275 senior security executives across the banking and capital markets sectors. It found that 78 per cent of executives surveyed expressed confidence in their overall cybersecurity strategy, with more than half the respondents indicating high levels of comfort in their ability to identify the cause of a breach, measure the impact of a breach and manage the financial risk due to a cybersecurity event.
However, the analysis also points to ongoing security challenges for banks.
For example, in addition to the many phishing, malware and penetration attacks that banks around the world receive each day, on average, respondents reported that their banks had experienced 85 serious attempted cyber breaches each year. Of these, about one third (36 per cent) were successful, that is, at least some information was obtained through the breach. In these instances, it took 59 per cent of banks several months to detect breaches that occurred.