Each cyber hack costs banks US$1.8 million - #OpIcarus
The latest Kaspersky Lab report titled “New Technologies, New
Cyberthreats” claims that cybersecurity threats in the financial sector
cost an average of US$1,754,000 per “accident” involving a bank’s online
banking services. Kaspersky says this is double the price of recovering
from a malware incident, which costs as much as US$825,000 on average
to resolve.
The study shows that 61% of cybersecurity incidents affecting online
banking come with additional costs for the institution targeted -
including data loss, the loss of brand/ company reputation, confidential
information becoming leaked, and more.
Loss of brand remains one of the most feared consequence of a cyber incident.
“In the banking sector reputation is everything, and security goes
hand-in-hand with this. If a bank’s online services come under attack,
it is very difficult for customers to trust that bank with their money,
so it’s easy to see why an attack could be so crippling. If banks are to
protect themselves effectively from the price tag of an online banking
cybersecurity incident, they first need to become more prepared for the
dangers DDoS attacks pose to their online banking services. This threat
should be featuring higher on banks’ security priorities,” said Kirill
Ilganaev, Head of Kaspersky DDoS Protection, Kaspersky Lab.
These
findings suggests that financial institutions consider the cost
implications of cybersecurity threats and put appropriate measures in
place to protect themselves and their customers from incidents involving
online banking – particularly from DDoS attacks, which can threaten
online banking services.
DDoS attacks against financial
institutions are often designed to cripple banking websites. The report
shows that when organizations are attacked by DDoS, customer-facing
resources suffer more in banking, than in any other sector. For example,
49% of banks that have suffered a DDoS attack have had their public
website affected (compared to 41% of non-financial institutions) and 48%
have had their online banking affected when they’ve been targeted by
DDoS.
Banks worry about attacks against their online banking
services more than about many other threats. However, DDoS, according to
the report, only ranks third place, being superseded by concerns about
malware and targeted attacks, despite the fact that DDoS is more costly
to recover from than malware.
Recovering from DDoS is also more
expensive for banks than non-financial organizations. The report shows
that a DDoS incident can cost a financial institution US$1,172,000 to
recover from, compared to US$952,000 for businesses in other sectors.
The report reveals that 83% of financial institutions plan to increase
spending on IT security over the next two years, with regulatory and
compliance requirements leading the chart at 50%.
