The Rise of Phishing Attacks in the Financial Industry

It may come as no surprise that the financial industry is a regular target for cybercriminals. Its very name conjures up flashing dollar signs in the eyes of phishers worldwide. And while the trend in phishing attacks on the industry shows no signs of slowing, preventative solutions exist.

First, a few facts.

The market

• The financial services global market is expected to reach $28,529.29 billion by 2025¹
• The projected growth is mainly due to the companies rearranging their operations and recovering from the COVID-19 impact¹
• 40% of the global financial services market is located in Western Europe, with the second-largest region being North America, accounting for 27%¹

Cybersecurity

• 96% of the cyberattacks on the financial and insurance industries are financially motivated.²
• 81% of industry breaches stemmed from miscellaneous (a.k.a human) error, basic web application attacks, and social engineering²
• Credential harvesting, ransomware attacks, and general phishing scams top the list of industry cybercrime types
• In 2020, the financial and insurance industry saw a 125% increase in average quarterly exposure to mobile phishing attacks³
• 2020 also brought a 400% increase in average quarterly exposure to malicious and risky applications to the sector³

The Steady Rise in Internal Actors

In the past four years, there has been a steady, albeit alarming, trend in the cause of financial and insurance industry breaches. In 2020, 44% of all incidents were caused by internal actors. Does this mean internal employees were purposely assisting hackers in their cyberattack efforts? In some cases, certainly. However, the majority of the time these were error-based breaches in which employees helped to facilitate (or possible initiates) a successful phishing attack by sending an email to the wrong person or a similar mistake.²

A Time for Taking New Measures

According to the 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report, the Top IG1 Protective Control used in the financial and insurance industry to combat cyberattacks is Security Awareness and Skills Training.² While many companies may think this is the best or only measure available, human error accounts for 95% of all cybersecurity breaches.⁴ There is just no way to ensure employees will never be tricked into falling for a phishing email. And all it takes is one click.

The time is now for industries worldwide to take a bolder step in securing the cyber safety of their companies. Cybersecurity training is not enough. It never will be. There are, of course, solutions available that can – and do - protect the financial and insurance industry.

As the most comprehensive malware and email phishing protection available, INKY takes the responsibility of recognizing phishing scams away from employees and IT departments. It scans every sent and delivered email automatically and flags malicious emails, protecting your organization and your clients from even the most complex threats. INKY’s intelligent machine learning algorithms identify abnormalities in emails, even if the threat has never been seen before. INKY’s Banner warns employees of threats while protecting and training them at the same time. And, INKY installation is simple. Most customers are up and running in under an hour – even with remote employees.

Phishing threats are on the rise and the financial industry continues to be a major target. Protect your company from cyberattacks. Schedule a demonstration or inquire today.

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INKY^® is the most effective hero in the war against phishing. An award-winning cloud-based email security solution, INKY^® prevents the most complex phishing threats from disrupting or even immobilizing your company’s day-to-day business operations. Using computer vision, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, INKY^® is the smartest investment you can make in the security of your organization. INKY^® is a proud winner of the NYCx Cybersecurity Moonshot Challenge and a finalist in the 2020 RSAC Innovation Sandbox Competition. Learn more about INKY^® or request an online demonstration today.

¹Source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-financial-services-industry-size-growth-and-competitive-landscape-to-2030---covid-19-impact-and-recuperation-301246368.html

²Source: https://www.verizon.com/business/en-gb/resources/reports/dbir/2021/masters-guide/

³Source: https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/95145-financial-services-experienced-125-surge-in-exposure-to-mobile-phishing-attacks-in-2020

⁴Source: https://www.cybintsolutions.com/cyber-security-facts-stats/