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Cyberattacks in the Financial Sector: Is Your Money Safe?

Posted: 19th May 2017 by
Finance Monthly
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According to the latest IMB Security report, the finance industry is facing 65% more cyberattacks than the average organisation. In 2016, the finance industry was the most targeted sector of cybercrime, an increase of 937% from the previous year.

What’s more, up to 50% of security breaches remain unreported to the public by the affected organisations in fear of damaging their reputation and people's confidence in investing with them. The result is that most people never realise their data and money are at risk. The recent cyberattack which affected organisations such as Telefonica, Renault and the British NHS, caused turmoil and panic in businesses across all sectors throughout the world. While cybersecurity is the biggest concern for most organisations today, the finance sector is the one mostly affected by cybercrime on daily basis.

The recent attack is a wakeup call for many who may now question if their money is safe and ask how best to protect it.

What makes a secure hedge fund?

Steven Jupp, CEO of Avem Capital says: “Coming from a technology and security sector, when selecting Avem Capital for a worthy hedge fund to lead, it was my priority to ensure we had the best security and protection of all our data. Naturally, when choosing a hedge fund, cybersecurity is not the biggest concern for most of our Clients. Many don’t even consider such matters at all. It is also a very well known fact that both platforms and the regulators are making keen headway during selection and onboarding processes, as well as during the lifecycle.

“However, concerned or not, in terms of cybersecurity I’m confident that we are one of the most secure and safe hedge funds in the market in respect to data and technological infrastructure.”

With the recent data showing how heavily targeted and poorly protected the finance sector is, it is apparent that cybersecurity is often omitted while thinking of a hedge fund. Avem Capital believes that this should be a priority for both Clients and the Hedge Fund Management – an integral part of its DNA. It is so much more than choosing a good antivirus software.

As Jupp highlights, there are numerous things to look out for when thinking of cybersecurity: “We do our best to prevent any possible attacks from any side, we like to be one step ahead of the game. At Avem Capital we introduced some of the most powerful, pro-active security management systems in the world, many of which are proprietary and reduce the potential fingerprint attacks available to commercial world applications.

“Our in-house logical security engineers are constantly monitoring numerous channels both regular web based and deep web based, in order to protect and defend against zero day exploits.” - says Jupp

Furthermore, Avem Capital also uses Data Loss Prevention systems, both in email and in document management, allowing to track the propagation of a document and secure it from intervention from a third party.

Another approach being adopted by Avem is that all infrastructure and mobile connected devices are patched at least weekly. Critical security patches are then tested against software and operating systems before being deployed on the day of notification. To ensure only secure devices enter the corporate network, Traders and Fund Managers are not able to operate any form of buying or selling over any device other than guarded desktop devices. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is not permitted to enter the corporate network at any point. To prevent this, Avem utilises a separate infrastructure, capable of detecting any potential threats or rogue devices.

With companies investing billions of dollars and private investors entrusting their life savings to hedge funds, the finance industry needs to step up their game when it comes to cybersecurity. The key is to always assume the worst case scenario and prevent possible threats by utilising all available tools to assure security.

(Source: Avem Capital)

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