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Expert discusses cyber challenges for financial services organisations

December 12, 2018

Martina Molinari

In his latest interview with Intelligent CIO, Panaseer’s SVP North America and CISO Jim Doggett explains why enterprise cyber hygiene needs to continue to be a key focus for financial services security teams around the globe, as it could stop the majority of all threats.

In 2018, the Financial Conduct Authority reported that the number of cyberattacks against financial services companies had risen by more than 80%. So, why are attacks up when most of the financial sector has been working hard and spending lots of money on cybersecurity? Yes, the threats are greater and our environments are more complex but maybe we’ve been spending the money on the wrong things. Surprisingly, maybe the best place to start is with the basics.

Financial services organisations still find it difficult to demonstrate strong control over their enterprise cyber hygiene and thus effectively remediate cybersecurity risks. This is because the bigger the company, the more challenging it is to maintain these ‘basics’, such as identifying IT assets, updating software, patching it, operating standard controls and educating users. However, given that addressing this issue of enterprise cyber hygiene could stop the majority of all threats, it needs to continue to be a key focus for financial services security teams around the globe.

You can read more about the cyber challenges facing financial services organisations at Intelligent CIO.