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Security
A SETTLETECH BLOG

Are hackers targeting your industry? What you should know if you work in Financial Services.

Despite adhering to banking cyber security standards and making significant investments in cyber security, financial institutions consistently appear on lists of the industries most vulnerable to hacking.

As industry participants, we are expected to handle the most sensitive data without the draconian customer experiences of the last millennia. 

For the second year running the World Economic Forum  (WEF) has reported the global cyber landscape as a significant threat, whilst Tech Business News ranked Financial Services as the second most vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Cybercriminals are running rife and becoming increasingly sophisticated, penetrating email after email, firm after firm. According to the  Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), in the last financial year, 76,000 cybercrime incidents were reported; a nail-biting 13% increase from the previous financial year.

So what does that mean to the average business holder?

ASCS reported a rise in the average cost per cybercrime report to over $39,000 for small businesses, $88,000 for medium businesses, and over $62,000 for large businesses. An average of 14% increase and, you guessed it, it’s expected to double by 2025. 

 

Secure city

 

Financial services are consistently ranked as one of the top targeted industries for cyber attacks and for good reason. Banking/Credit/Financial, and by extension, the Property industry, deal with what attackers desire most - money and personal information. If these institutions are successfully breached, they become a hacker's paradise. 

Although larger players may have strong security measures in place, it is the smaller players who appear to be at the greatest risk.

 

According to Tech Business News Cybercrime Studies, 43% of cyberattacks are aimed at small businesses, but only 14% are prepared to defend themselves.

Cyberbaddies have recently turned their attention to target small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) due to their weaker security measures and limited IT resources. Emails, file sharing and low-security data storage are popular methods used by businesses, and cybercriminals are exploiting this to gain access to sensitive information.

Have you ever asked yourself how secure emails actually are? Turns out - by default, not at all! Email is not encrypted and is a walk in the park for hackers looking for an opportunity. Consequences SMBs have had to face time and time again. 

 

Secure business setup

So, how do you adopt a robust security strategy to protect your data without breaking the bank? 

Mitigating risks can be easier than you think. If you don’t have the spare cash and an in-house dev team to build a uniquely secure system (which, let’s face it, many don’t), partnering with a third company that offers two-factor authentication, encrypted file sharing and performs regular backups of company data, could be all you need to increase your protection.  

Be conscious about managing risk and use a secure platform for communication and data storage. Secure online platforms, such as SettleTech, provide an added layer of security and help to ensure that sensitive information remains confidential and secure.

SettleTech is a cloud-based platform designed for the property industry to enable secure communication, protected data storage and state-of-the-art security measures so you can settle deals without the risk of a data breach.

All industries face a significant threat from cyberattacks, but some are more susceptible than others. By enhancing your cyber security measures and focusing on implementing the right security measures, you can create an added layer of protection to minimize your chances of being targeted by hackers.

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