Data Breaches on the Rise in Financial Services

By Jacob Serpa, Product Marketing Manager, Bitglass

Financial services organizations are a prime target for hackers looking to steal and sell valuable data. This is because these firms handle sensitive information known as PII, personally identifiable information, as well as other financial data. In Financial World: Breach Kingdom, Bitglass' latest financial breach report, the Next-Gen CASB reveals information about the state of security for financial services in 2018. Read on to learn more.

The rise of financial services breaches

2018 has seen the number of financial services breaches reach new heights. This is likely due to a large number of reasons. For example, some organizations may have an overreliance upon existing cybersecurity infrastructure and find it difficult to justify additional expenses in light of their existing sunk costs in security. Other firms may simply overestimate what traditional endpoint and premises-based tools can do to protect data from evolving threats. Regardless, the fact remains that financial services firms were breached in 2018 nearly three times more than they were in Bitglass' previous, 2016 report.

Malware leads the pack

In prior years, the causes of financial services breaches were fairly diverse. Lost or stolen devices and hacking each caused about 20 percent of breaches, while unintended disclosures and malicious insiders were responsible for 14 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

However, this year saw a massive shift in the balance of power. Nearly three quarters of all financial services breaches in 2018 were caused by malware or hacking. This seems consistent with headlines over the last year – ransomware, cloud cryptojacking, and highly specialized malware variants have dominated the news when it comes to breaches.

What to do?

In financial services, far more must be done to secure sensitive information. While it is imperative that the enterprise can protect data against any threat, it is now clear that defending against malware deserves special attention. This is particularly true in light of the rise of cloud and BYOD. More devices and applications are storing and processing data than ever before, creating more opportunities for malware to infect the enterprise. Fortunately, there are appropriate solutions available.

To learn more about the state of cybersecurity in financial services, download Financial World: Breach Kingdom.