Financial institutions identify cyber risk as major concern: Survey

A total of 84% of global financial institutions identified cyber risk as one of their top five concerns in a third-quarter survey by Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., an increase of 25 percentage points from the survey it took earlier this year.

The company's latest “Systemic Risk Barometer” survey, released Thursday, also found that 33% of financial institutions rank cyber attacks as the No. 1 systemic risk to the broader economy, compared with 24% in the March 2014 survey.

The New York-based Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., which provides clearing and settlement services to the financial markets, surveyed 202 financial services firms during the third quarter.

Among other survey results, 76% of respondents indicated they have increased the amount of resources dedicated to identifying, monitoring and mitigating systemic risks over the past year.

The company also issued a white paper, “Cyber-Risk: A Global Systemic Threat,” recommending that financial institutions include a definition of what constitutes critical infrastructure within their organization, review available cyber security networks, and shift the focus of cyber security program from “check the box” security to “actively hunting for threats.”

The report also states that financial institutions should recognize that prevention eventually fails, and that they should “plan ahead to identify ways to deal with a unique blow to your networks and systems.”