The retail banking industry is regularly facing cybersecurity threats observed Bahaa Abdul Hussein. There has been a great increase impact in the number of cyberattacks over the past few years. Cybersecurity threats have a huge impact on the retail banking industry.
There is stiff competition between all the banks as they vie for more business and customers. The cyberattacks hitting the banking industry had a significant impact on the customer experience. The primary reason for the increase in cyber threats is that now more consumers use online banking and mobile banking services. They easily become targets for hackers waiting to steal their information or cause financial damage to them.
How do cybersecurity threats impact retail banks?
Email phishing scams are the most common cybersecurity threat. Fraudulent emails ask bank customers to click on a link, which redirects them to a website. Here they are asked for personal information like names, addresses, and social security numbers.
Cybercriminals steal customer personal identification numbers (PINs) to make unauthorized ATM withdrawals. They can also steal money from online accounts and transfer funds between accounts, obviously without the account holder’s permission. This is the most worrying concern of retail banks.
Due to cybersecurity threats, customers are losing trust in their banks. They are becoming hesitant of using them for transactions needing immediate payment. This can cause multiple negative consequences for a bank, like loss of revenue, which can lead to job losses and decreased profitability.
Steps the banking industry is taking to mitigate cyber threats
Cyberattacks have hit the retail banking industry hard. The number of cybersecurity threats is forcing banks to take protective measures to safeguard their customers’ information.
Along with protecting themselves against these threats, retail banks are also working to improve their customer service experience to make customers feel confident. They should be able to trust their bank with their most sensitive personal information.
Banks are taking several measures to mitigate these risks and protect themselves from cyberattacks. The crucial steps are:
- Instead of only defending against a cybersecurity threat, attacking the source of an attack
- Having an integrated security system
- Using encryption technology like chip-and-PIN cards
- Increasing awareness among customers
- Using analytics and machine learning
- Treating customer data as sensitive information
- Keeping up-to-date with technological advances to improve security measures for their customers, investing in the latest endpoint protection
Retail banks can make themselves more cyber secure by having a cybersecurity framework. Needless to say, banks must have antivirus, firewalls, website encryption, and fraud detection software on their computers.
The blog has been authored by Bahaa Abdul Hussein and has been published by the editorial board of Fintek Diary. For more information, please visit www.fintekdiary.com
