The Investment Association (IA), the UK asset management trade group, has launched a cyber threat intelligence platform to help buyside firms bolster their defences against rising cybercrime triggered by the COVID-19 induced lockdowns, remote working and uncertainty.
The IA Threat Intelligence Alert Network (IA TITAN), which was developed by Anomali, a provider of intelligence-driven cyber security solutions, has a real-time dashboard bringing together alerts from law enforcement, government agencies and other relevant authorities, on cyber hazards and risks, within the asset management community. The alerts cover a range of dangers including: malware, ransomware, and software vulnerabilities.
Last month, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published insights from its Cyber Coordination Groups which includes different facets of the financial services sector such as fund management, brokers, trading venues and benchmark administrators. It warned that “threat actors are using the COVID-19 pandemic to cause greater business disruption by targeting front-line organisations across industries with cyber-attacks, phishing scams, fraudulent schemes, and misinformation.”
However, although there has been a spike in cyber activity in the current environment, there was already an upward trajectory with the UK financial services industry particularly in the firing line. The FCA reported a dramatic 480% year-on-year hike in the number of regulated firms targeted in 2019. In addition, the latest figures from the National Fraud Office show that in general, the number of offences jumped from 273,598 in 2017 to 306,126 in 2018.
“Cyber security and operational resilience are a board-level focus for the investment management industry, which is why we need to tackle head-on the threat cyber espionage and financial crime can pose to members’ operations,” says Chris Cummings, chief executive of the Investment Association. “The ever-changing nature of these online threats goes right to the core of IA TITAN, which will provide industry-specific insights into cyber security threats, helping to keep customers and businesses safe.”
According to Hugh Njemanze, chief executive of Anomali, “The problem of how to address cyberthreats is compounded by the overwhelming volumes of data about them, confusion over which security solutions re effective, and shortages of cybersecurity professionals.
©BestExecution 2020
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