Financial Organisations Still at Risk from Security Threats and Spyware Accounts

(19/06/2006)

Financial organisations are still at risk from web-borne threats, such as spyware and malicious code, despite increasing investment in IT security by the sector.

A recent security audit conducted by Finjan for a major financial organisation clearly showed the growing proportion of web-borne threats, which were not detected by traditional anti-virus and firewall products that were in place. Finjan’s security audit suggests that the most prevalent security threat for financial institutions is spyware. An overwhelming 67% of security policy violations recorded during this audit were related to spyware downloads, attempts to access spyware websites or attempts to access websites that hide executable spyware.

Earlier this year IDC’s Financial Insights arm predicted IT spending for security within the Western European banking sector alone could grow at a 15.2% CAGR over the next five years.

The security audit was based on live Internet traffic gathered from the browsing activities of 5,000 users, representing a small segment of the financial organisation’s users. Finjan’s Vital Security Web Appliance scanned all content downloaded over a two-week period. The Vital Security log files were then analysed by Finjan’s Malicious Code Research Centre (MCRC). The findings were based on counting each content type that violated the financial institution’s security policy. Out of a total of 67,916 security policy breaches, Spyware accounted for 67 percent while behavior-based violations (i.e., malicious scripts and malicious active content) constituted a further 32 percent.

“IT security is still a key priority for financial organisations, which realise the serious implications of today’s evolving security threats to their business and to the integrity of their customers’ private information,” stated Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CTO at Finjan. “However, the growing phenomenon of targeted attacks, aimed at stealing identities or compromising confidential information from a particular system or computer, is nearly impossible to detect using traditional security tools.”

Ben-Itzhak concluded: “The FBI’s 2005 Computer Crime Survey revealed that about 80 per cent of organizations surveyed were affected by Spyware. Finjan’s latest security audit confirms that this trend is a serious threat to which financial institutions must respond.”

Related topics:  IT Network and Computer Security   Security market sectors 

Print version | Email to a friend | Related articles

Data breaches: Trends, costs and best practices gives you all the latest information on securing personal and corporate data, key recommendations for immediate action to improve data security, and how to respond to data breaches.

Other Security news and resources