BLOCKCHAIN

KEEPING AHEAD OF THE CYBERCRIMINALS

THINK

 •23 NOV 2016

 

The increasing sophistication of cyberattacks is asking hard questions of companies' defences – and has become a top priority for CFOs and treasurers.

 Cyber-risks have become a top priority for CFOs and corporate treasurers, and were ranked on a par with market risks and counterparty risks in this year's Corporate Treasury Insights survey of 750 corporate treasurers and CFOs by Boston Consulting Group and BNP Paribas.

Such threats are also of prime concern for banks. In a recent worldwide survey by management consultancy EY and the Institute of International Finance, 48% of banks identified cybersecurity as one of the three most important risks for their board to consider over the next 12 months. Some 68% said cybersecurity was receiving more attention at board level, and 75% said they had increased the number of staff focusing on the area.

Credit transfer scams are a threat to all companies and are wreaking havoc all over the world, with more than $3bn of known losses worldwide according to the FBI, including €550m in France according to the French judicial police. Fraudsters use social engineering techniques - the psychological manipulation of people - to dupe companies' employees. A favourite technique is impersonation. Companies with insufficiently tight procedures could fall victim to a fake CEO who requests urgent confidential payment or a fake supplier who requests that an IBAN be amended.