State Sponsored Attacks Against Financial Institutions

In a 2018 report published by The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Erica D. Borghard detailed how the U.S. economy is at risk by “national security adversaries in cyberspace.”

“The U.S. financial system is a target for foreign cyber adversaries for several reasons,” she stated. “First, the financial sector is one of the bedrocks of the U.S.—and global—economy. Significant disruptive or destructive attacks against the financial sector could have catastrophic effects on the economy and threaten financial stability. This could occur directly through lost revenue as well as indirectly through losses in consumer confidence and effects that reverberate beyond the financial sector because it serves as the backbone of other parts of the economy. For instance, cyber attacks that disrupt critical services, reduce confidence in specific firms or the market itself, or undermine data integrity could have systemic consequences for the U.S. economy.”

Iran, North Korea and Russia are just three examples of adversaries cited by Borghard, an assistant professor at the Army Cyber Institute at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

As we embark on a new year, FinTech fraud experts are working assiduously to prevent such state sponsored attacks to their assets.