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Even though it is heavily spelt out by regulators and others, the digitalisation of financial services comes with increased security risks, even as it improves services and operating efficiencies.
This year, the 2024 Global Financial Stability Report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said the financial services sector is highly exposed to cyber-attacks, with nearly one-fifth of all incidents affecting the industry, and the market seeing $0.5 million lost from cyberattacks. So, it is of utmost importance for banks to ensure that they are protecting their infrastructure.
What security threats do banks and customers face?
Many of today’s threats are sophisticated, according to the latest INTERPOL Financial Fraud Assessment. In Europe, there has been a rise in online scams like investment fraud and phishing. Cybercriminals are also targeting mobile phone apps more frequently.
Going even further, Financial Crime-as-a-service (FCaaS), a new cyberattack method is on the rise. With FCaaS, for a fee to another cybercrime gang, cybercriminals can deploy complex attacks without needing the know-how or any advanced technical skills. This method of attack has been increasing since the pandemic and has continued to become more sophisticated. Consequently, this has enabled cybercriminals to operate even more efficiently and on a global scale.
However, even with all of the known cyberattack methods and the rise of new threats, 56 percent of central banks or supervisory authorities across 51 countries globally do not have a national cyber strategy for the financial sector. This poses a grave issue which must be solved.
Filling the banking security gap
ATM operators are always looking to raise the game on cybersecurity. For example, 5B – Transacciones y Transferencias, S. A., Latin America’s largest ATM network, who manage over 2,600 ATMs in Guatemala, with 25 percent of these devices belonging to bank branches, sought out a resilient cybersecurity solution. They needed an offering which continuously monitored operations to prevent any threats, and ensured the security and stability of the entire ATM network across all locations. Additionally, making sure that the attack surface is minimised, whilst maintaining the uptime of their ATM network.
As well as this, it is important that if any changes are needed to be made to the ATM’s hardware or software, it should be authorised before any action is taken. This is to ensure that all configurations are done correctly, and it does not compromise the security of the device.
To meet these requirements, 5B deployed our Lookwise Device Manager (LDM), which is a single comprehensive platform and centralised banking security solution for ATM and ASST devices.
Beneficially, our LDM solution:
- Offers continuous monitoring and detection of suspicious activity, to protect endpoint devices 24/7.
- Uses fully encrypted hard drives, which ensures software and hardware integrity.
- Is based on Lookwise TECH, which has been specifically designed to unify protection for devices across locations.
- Enables financial institutions to create strong and resilient security offerings and incident response plans, which are scalable and can flex depending on the situation.
Through deploying our LDM cybersecurity offering, 5B was able to optimise the uptime of their entire ATM network, reaching 98.4 percent. As security was put at the forefront of operations for the company, our LDM solution ensured that their ATM network was protected, amid the constant threat of cyber risks.
As cybersecurity threats continue to rise for banks and other financial services institutions, having a proactive approach ensures that banking software, hardware and infrastructure is protected, and that services can continue for customers.
