October 2022 is cybersecurity awareness month in the United States. That creates an excellent opportunity for financial institutions to organize tournaments and events to highlight this aspect’s importance.
Cybersecurity Awareness Month
It is good to see financial institutions pay closer attention to cybersecurity and online threats. FS-ISAC and Cyberbit will host the International Cyber League Financial Cup. It consists of two rounds of simulated cyber challenges. Experts will have a platform to display their prowess and technical skills.
Moreover, it will prove as a “battleground” pitting financial institutions against one another. Every “battle” must be won to show who is better equipped to handle cyber threats and other attacks. Although much progress has been made on that front, there is much work to do.
An Ongoing Struggle
Banks have long struggled to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of cybersecurity. That is due in part to the fact that banks have large amounts of sensitive customer data that they must protect. In addition, banks must also protect their internal systems and data from being compromised by external threats.
Recent security incidents involving banks include the 2017 Equifax data breach, in which hackers accessed the personal information of over 145 million people. Another incident occurred in 2016 when hackers stole $81 million from Bangladesh’s central bank by breaking into its computer systems and sending fraudulent orders to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Other notable incidents include the 2015 hacking of JPMorgan Chase, in which 76 million households were affected, and the 2014 cyber attack on Home Depot, which resulted in the theft of over 56 million credit and debit card numbers.
As these incidents illustrate, banks face a constant threat from cyber criminals continually finding new ways to exploit vulnerabilities in their systems. In response, banks have invested heavily in cybersecurity measures such as data encryption and two-factor authentication. However, more must be done to protect against the ever-growing threat of cybercrime.
