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Top 5 breaches in the financial sector

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THE TOP TARGET OF CYBER ATTACKS

by Dan Virgillito, Director of Media & Communications, Massive

Let’s not pussyfoot around it: security breaches are a serious issue.

Just ask any bank that has been a victim of a data breach. In addition to customer churn,
negative headlines, and regulatory penalties associated with data breaches, the financial loss
can add up quickly.

Despite attackers focusing on other industries, the financial sector continues to be a top target
for sophisticated attacks, caused by malicious insiders, hacks, card scams, and loss of portable
devices containing sensitive data.

The recent state of data breaches illustrates the pinch felt by banks, hedge funds, insurers and
credit unions from the recent growth in cybercriminal activity. The US CBA (Consumer Bankers
Association) revealed that the cost of replacing credit cards after the data breach at Target was
over $200 million. The report merges the CBA’s $172 million figure, with additional $30.6 million
quotes by the CUNA (Credit Union National Association).

Smaller financial institutions are facing the effects even more. According to ICBA (Independent
Bankers of America), which represents local banks and smaller financial institutions, its
members have to shell $40 million for replacing 4 million cards since the recent retail breaches,
including those at Neiman Marcus and Target.

Apart from outside breaches affecting the financial sector, the Insider Threat study informs that
malicious insiders are also the cause of data breaches at financial services organizations. The
report also cited cloud computing technology as a big concern, with several financial
organizations finding malicious insiders because of increasing use of the cloud.

The details of these data breaches are downright ingenious, but the financial sector has more to
worry about. Here are the top 5 security breaches in the sector, and what we can learn from
them:

1. DDOS attacks

In 2012, an increasing number of financial institutions had to face sophisticated DDoS attacks
against politically motivated groups. These attacks increased in sophisticated and caused slow
response times on banking websites, preventing customers from accessing their accounts, and
affecting bank-office operations adversely. DDoS continues to spell danger, for the banking
industry and the world in general.

78 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – July 2014 Edition
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