INTELLIGENT BANKING & FINANCE
powered by
OVERCOMING
CYBERSECURITY
CHALLENGES IN
THE BANKING
SECTOR
The increasing consolidation of
wealth in the GCC, coupled with
the complex political lines, has
made the region susceptible to
cyber attacks. The impunity enjoyed
by cyber criminals comes from
an uneven playing field that does
not exempt any economic sector
from the fallout of a breach. From
Citigroup to Wells Fargo and JP
Morgan, cybercrime rings have made
it apparent that no organization is
considered an exception to targeted
cyber attacks. As the current state
of cyber warfare advances, it is
necessary to assume that you
are a target, or will be in the near
future, writes Stuart Davis, Director
Mandiant Consulting, FireEye.
74
INTELLIGENTCIO
T
he region has seen a consistent rise in
advanced attacks over the years. Headlinegrabbing incidents such as the Qatar
National Bank (QNB) hack and the Bangladesh
Bank heist this year have put immense pressure
on banks and financial institutions, who deem
firewalls to be an adequate countermeasure
against cybercrime. Mergers and acquisitions
also present vulnerabilities. The recent merger
of National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and
First Gulf Bank (FGB) will create an entity worth
$175 billion by assets – the biggest in the Middle
East and North Africa region. This makes it a
potentially inviting target for attackers. Add to
this the amount of time that organisations in
the EMEA region take to detect a compromise
i.e. 469 days, compared to the global average of
www.intelligentcio.com