How concerned are you about your organization’s Financial Cybersecurity?

$2.9 million is being stolen every minute by cybercriminals according to a Forbes article. A VMWare survey of the top CIOs lends more context. 82% of them believe cyberattacks are getting increasingly sophisticated.

More alarmingly, last year it was predicted that there would be a ransomware threat every 11 seconds by the end of 2021 according to a Cybersecurity Ventures study.

The average estimated cost of each breach is a whopping $3.9 million. (That’s pretty much a Buggati Chiron every 11 seconds. How much in an hour and a day? Well, never mind.)

Such facts are proving to be a menacing threat for CIOs and Cybersecurity professionals around the world.

It is also a fascinating case in point that social engineering is proving to be a massive outlet for cyber crooks.

In a cinematic sense, the time is ripe for the superhero (read: Cybersecurity professionals) to beat the extreme odds. By the nature of this challenge, there is no way out, is there? 

Now, we have somewhat laid the case in front of you. We shall discuss the pressing financial cybersecurity trends in 2022 before we help you dodge the bullets. 

Top Cybersecurity Trends for Fintech in 2022

1. Cash is Diminishing 

Roughly 4 in 5 Americans use Mobile Payment apps according to a NerdWallet survey.

In 2018, the number of digital transactions took over the number of cash payments. Not even 5 years down, many countries in the world have already seen a drastic reduction in the use of cash the world over.

How drastic? The UK is mulling to be a cashless society by 2030 while Sweden is aiming to get there by 2023.

A 2009 incident in Sweden brings to us an exciting context: Around 10 masked men used a stolen helicopter to clean a cash depot of $5.5 million.

That and similar such incidents in the country had pushed the nationals to call for a fully cash-free society.

In 2018, less than 1 percent of Sweden’s GDP was said to be circulating in cash. Now with the effects of the pandemic, it is safe to assume that number to be less than 0.5% of the GDP.

The point is; if a spate of daylight burglaries has pushed a country to transform into an almost cashless society, where are we heading to as a global society given the apparent pitfalls of cybersecurity?

2. Instant Gratification

“Yo! Give a loan before my burger is heated or I’m outta here”

The subtext to the above statement is as pragmatic as it is a little funny, isn’t it?

Just about everything today has an element of instant gratification. Food, travel, break-ups, entertainment, love, dating, and whatnot?!

And so, quite understandably, why not with financial technology? There is technology involved after all!

On average, it takes about 12-14 minutes to digitally open an account and apply for a loan.

A digital banking report suggests that banking institutions are pushing to lower this time to around 3 minutes or less.

Crucial factors that are essential for such customer responsiveness include:

• Data Analytics and Process Automation
• Contextual and Personalized Communication
• Reskilling Workforce and scale in the use of AI and Machine Learning

The need for speed is quite obvious. Are financial cybersecurity agencies and professionals ready for this though?

While the intent and moves are there for everyone to see, a Gartner study reveals a contradicting story; 53% of the organizations reported having fallen behind in their digital transformation goals.

One must understand it is so much easier said than done. The same report implies that it is taking organizations nearly twice the envisaged time and capital on their digital transformation pursuits.

3. Mobile-First Approach Stays Among Top Cybersecurity Trends

Mobile banking via mobile apps or mobile websites has definitely come a long way. Yet, in 2022, fintech organizations are going to aim for a deeper, insight-driven approach to mobile banking.

By being fully accessible and functional on the phone, fintech processes and organizations have an enormous opportunity to engage, acquire and retain customers at a larger conversion rate. 

That said, focusing on a mobile-first approach puts the users in a compromised situation though. Mobiles are suspected more of phishing, SMS spam, DDoS – Distributed Denial of Service, and Data Theft contingencies.

As a trusted player in FinTech, it’s important for you to take care of such pressing issues and implement trustworthy cybersecurity technologies from partners such as Cyvatar to provide a secure platform for your users no matter what the device.

Let’s just say organizations that cover these kinds of financial cybersecurity threats are going to be miles ahead in delighting their customers. Actually, did we even have to say that?

4. Increasing Usage of AI and Data Analytics

A banker and customer relationship have always been a cordial one. Most of us have dealt with bankers that were warm, gentle and assisted us personably and with a smile.

All part of a banker’s etiquette one may say. Whatever be the case, such personable treatment of the customer has somewhat been lost through the screens of gradual digitization. 

However, AI and Data Analytics with an ability to identify customer patterns and behavior give such a wonderful opportunity for fintech organizations to bring that smile and affection back between the banker and the customer.

AI and Data Analytics have the potential to bring a sweeping impact to a larger number of fintech and financial cybersecurity processes.

Want to learn how cybersecurity can impact your bottom line? Try Cyvatar One Month Free

A few advantages of AI and Data Analytics in Fintech and Financial Cybersecurity:

1. Accurate Decision Making In Business Operations
2. Prediction Analysis for enhanced business intelligence
3. Automation of Customer Support
4. Advanced Risk Analytics and Fraud Detection
5. Identify/ predict suspicious activities and mitigate risks

5. Surge in Cloud Services 

Unauthorized access of accounts, misconfiguration, and verifying identity are the biggest threats to cloud-based cybersecurity.

Specifically speaking, misconfiguration is one of the key challenges in warding off data breaches. Being proactive against such breaches is what separates more secured businesses from vulnerable ones.

Going forward, cloud-based solutions are invariably going to play a pivotal role across the global economy including fintech.

Here are 2 popular measures to secure the best interests of your customers and organizational data:

1. Ensure data is protected before it reaches the cloud
2. Implementing the Zero Trust Model. It implies the measures wherein no one irrespective of role/ position is given access to specific data without authentication. 

6. Scaling Data Privacy Measures 

The year 2021 witnessed a record number of data breaches. the insurance giant, CNA Financial Corp paid $40 million to hackers in May 2021 as a ransom to reclaim its data.

IT security professionals around the world have a challenge in front of them to secure the resources that they share with the workforce.

Many a time, in the current circumstances, malware has the potential to infect rather unintentionally, thus exposing the company data to foreign networks.

In the same light, existing data privacy regulations will have revision in accordance with the current scenario. 

7. Dealing With Ransomware Threats

In the previous point, we just discussed the huge ransom paid by the insurance agency to the hackers in 2021.

In all possibilities, the size and volume of such breaches and ransom will get multifold in 2022. Hence, ransomware threats are going to be among the top cybersecurity trends in 2022.

Talking about ransomware and financial cybersecurity, how can we ever forget the WannaCry ransomware in 2017!

That breach affected over 200,000 computers across 150 countries cleaning the global economy of a neat $6 billion. 

Key facts about Ransomware:

1. Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts the data in a system. Once encrypted, it seeks a ransom (in cryptocurrency mostly) from the owner to decrypt the data. 
2. Over 50% of the ransomware victims who pay to decrypt their files do not fully recover their data.
3. A stringent routine of backing up data remains a fool-proof defense against ransomware breaches.
4. The Gramm Leach Bliley Act lays the framework for organizations in the USA to protect the customers of financial institutions.
5. According to a BCG study, fintech companies are at 300 times increased risk of being subject to such attacks as ransomware, phishing, insider threats, and other malware. 
6. The National Cybersecurity Alliance states that over 60 percent of the small and medium businesses go out of business within 200 days of these hacks. 

8. Surge in Neo Banking 

Social distancing and public hygiene are becoming a very sensitive aspect of the collective lifestyle. Neo Banking thus will take deeper roots and become more of a regular feature in daily life.

Neo banks aka alternative challenger banks function majorly from a virtual space.

As convenient as they are, neo banks have a wide range of regulations to comply with and yet are more or less susceptible to the security mishaps of a conventional financial institution. 

9. Blockchain for Financial Cybersecurity

Blockchain is going to be one of the top cybersecurity trends in 2022 that has already found a sweeping essence across the global economy.

Though initially popular for being the technology behind Bitcoin, it is bound to have a deep impact in a wide range of industries.

Its decentralized and highly impenetrable network will revolutionize the global fintech space as well.

In 2020, PwC has estimated a $1.76 trillion boost to the global economy thanks to the virtues of this technology.

The key differentiating factors include lightning speed, security, and low processing charges in addition to fool-proof bookkeeping and auditing.

Without a question, adopting Blockchain-based transactions is going to be one of the top cybersecurity trends in Fintech going forward, in 2022, and beyond.

10. Demand for Financial Cybersecurity Professionals and Employee Education

According to the FBI, every year, nearly 3000 robberies happen on banks alone in the US Federal Reserve System.

Imagine the number if one included the small and medium-sized businesses, government agencies, and corporations.

Quite clearly, the challenge to protect our data and money is real. And so, unsurprisingly, the demand for cybersecurity professionals is going to blow the roof away in the coming times.

Learn how you can reduce the burden of hiring costly cybersecurity FTEs with Cyvatar’s fully managed cybersecurity services with remediation. GET IN TOUCH

While there is a definite imbalance in the equilibrium of demand and supply of talent, companies are going to continuously train their employees to increase awareness as well as secure precious data.

That said, Stanford professor Jeff Hancock has found a rather unsettling figure: 88% of all data branches are caused by unintentional mistakes of the employees. 

Be Cyber threat-proof in 2022

60% of the small and medium businesses that were subject to a cybersecurity lapse go out of business within 6 months according to a National Cybersecurity Alliance Study.

It is quite a different challenge with the larger organizations considering the colossal social and financial capital at stake.

The cost of a cyber attack vs the cost of cybersecurity is thus not even a debate. Stay ahead of any cybersecurity trends and threats.

Get effortless cybersecurity with Cyvatar.ai today.