UK's financial services 'at risk' without greater effort on cybersecurity

According to a report published by the BBA and PwC, seen by The Telegraph, 93pc of large organisations suffered security breaches in the past year, and seven in 10 banking chief executives see cybersecurity as a key risk to growth. British financial companies spent £700m on cybersecurity last year, the document says.

“Many BBA members participate in sector and cross-sector collaboration initiatives, however some do not and this needs to change,” the report says. “Though this can be in part explained by the sensitivities of some of the issues, there is also an element of lack of awareness and cultural resistance.

“This means some firms do not have the required level of information to defend against present threats. This weakens the sector’s ability to defend the system as a whole.”

The report calls for an intelligence centre or global body that would allow wider information sharing, as well as greater co-operation across borders.

“We think there’s a real need for an industry-wide intelligence sharing hub. The industry is fragmented in its response to this,” said Anthony Browne, the BBA’s chief executive. “It’s one of the biggest prudential threats to banking – a major concern at chief executive and chairman level. They are getting attacks regularly.”

Tuesday’s summit in London will bring together representatives from the international law enforcement agencies Interpol and Europol, as well as the United Nations, Cabinet Office and Home Office.

Institutions already gather information and collaborate on activities, since many find themselves attacked by the same systems. Cybersecurity has become a growing threat to banks as much of their activity and communication is now done digitally.

more