The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reports that data breaches increased fivefold in 2018, compared to the year before, highlighting once again the importance of cybersecurity to private banks.
Paolo Sartori, managing director of tech infrastructure firm, TransWorldCom, has stressed the threat of data breaches to private banks in protecting the assets and data of their high-net-worth clients.
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“Not only is a high-net-worth individual a more attractive victim for a scam, but they are also less likely to be questioned when large amounts of money move. The average bank customer may get a phone call when they move a few thousand pounds, however it is unlikely that a large transfer from an account holding millions of pounds will seem out of the ordinary.”
A recent report by Glasswall Solutions found that, as the defence of companies improves, cybercriminals are shifting their focus to ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
Sartori speaks of the importance that employees are sufficiently educated on the matter to ensure that robust security systems are not fatally undermined by careless practices by staff.
“Personal and professional cybersecurity go hand-in-hand. A chain is only is strong as its weakest link, and financial workers succumbing to fake emails for example leave us all exposed.
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By GlobalData“It is easy to separate consumer data from corporate or public cyber security but in reality we are all human and education against these kind of attacks is of the utmost importance.”
“Private banks need to be incredibly careful when dealing with the portfolios of high net-worth individuals and ensure that their workforce are educated about cybersecurity protocols.
“Even with adequate security measures in place, one of the only ways to protect effectively from cyber criminals is to make sure employees are well educated with the specifics of high-net-worth clients and their individual needs.
“Ultimately the financial sector has a heightened state of responsibility given the scope of the eventual risk if such hugely sensitive-data – which on a macro level escalates into billions globally – gets into the wrong hands.”
A report by GlobalData in December found that UK clients of wealth managers are less concerned about data breaches than their global equivalents.
However this is unlikely to the be the case for long, given high-profile breaches at major banks, as highlighted by the FCA’s findings.
Last April, seven UK banks, including RBS, Santander and Barclays, were victims of a coordinated cyber-attack, forcing them to shut down or limit their systems.
October saw Tesco Bank fined £16.4 million as a result of an attack in 2016, which led to 34 current accounts being relived of a combined £2.26m.
