FINANCIAL FUTURE SECURING THE Insights from IBM on Battling Cyber Threats in an Evolving Landscape Corey Hamilton Global Financial Services Leader & Partner, IBM Security Services As the Global Financial Services Leader at IBM Security Services, could you share your insights on cybersecurity in the financial industry? The financial services sector is undergoing a period of prolonged and far-reaching change – a digital transformation that has been in progress for some time but which was accelerated by the pandemic. The wide-spread adoption of hybrid working, often supported by the implementation of cloud-based systems, reduced or constricted budgets, daunting technical debt are just some of the more obvious developments; adaptations that are uncovering new vulnerabilities and opening up new routes of attack for cybercriminals and hostile states. In recent years, we have seen increased cyber threats targeting the financial sector, including state-sponsored threats. What are some emerging trends or techniques that cybercriminals employ, and how can financial institutions stay ahead of these threats? One of the most worrying trends is the rise of increasingly sophisticated ransomware attacks. The days of simply locking someone’s data and then demanding a payment in return for the encryption key are long gone. Attackers have largely replaced that model with a more damaging two-step approach that simultaneously paralyses a target’s system while surreptitiously extracting its data. Finance Monthly. Banking & Financial Services 21
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