The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), an industry consortium dedicated to reducing cyber risk in the global financial system, said on May 26 that 75 percent of cybersecurity professionals representing financial institutions around the world made dramatic changes to their firm’s cybersecurity programs to cope with the rapid shift to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
FS-ISAC polled 871 cybersecurity professionals from financial institutions around the world at its Virtual Summit on May 19, which gathered more than 3000 cybersecurity professionals in the financial services industry. The poll gauged which trends driven by the pandemic had the most impact on their cybersecurity programs.
Key findings include:
- Digital banking tools were ready to securely handle a huge increase in volume as only three percent of respondents saw these tools driving significant program changes
- Eleven percent of respondents said third party risk concerns led to dramatic change
- Forty-six percent reported their financial institution is likely to invest more in cybersecurity post-pandemic
“The accelerated shift to remote work has fueled a rapid evolution of the cyber threat landscape,” said Steve Silberstein, CEO of FS-ISAC. “As the effects of this pandemic continue to unfold, CISOs and cybersecurity teams are constantly adapting their cybersecurity programs to meet a new reality that is everything but normal.”
To support its nearly 7,000 members in sharing information about cyber threats, including those derived from the pandemic, FS-ISAC launched the FS-ISAC Intelligence Exchange in April 2020. The platform includes a new cyber intelligence sharing app and a secure chat function for real-time communication and collaboration. Since its launch, more than 6,000 users globally have adopted the new platform.
FS-ISAC polled its members at its 2020 Virtual Summit held on May 19, 2020. The survey gauged which trends driven by the pandemic had the most impact on financial institutions’ cybersecurity programs. Registered attendees represented financial institutions from more than 50 countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, United Kingdom, India, and Singapore. The percentages are based on a total of 871 responses.
