Important Industry Insights on the Use of Anti-Malware and Advanced Features for Ransomware Protection
According to the IC3 2022 Internet Crime Report, the FBI received 2,385 complaints identified as ransomware with adjusted losses of more than $34.3 million. Moreover, 870 of these complaints indicated that organizations belonging to a critical infrastructure sector, such as financial services, were victims of a ransomware attack. This makes it imperative for banks and credit unions to employ a variety of measures to protect themselves against the growing threat of ransomware attacks. Yet many financial institutions that are leveraging anti-malware solutions are not using advanced features that can help protect against ransomware threats. According to Safe Systems’ 2023 Cybersecurity Outlook for Community Banks and Credit Unions, advanced features for anti-malware/anti-ransomware solutions such as root cause analysis, advanced machine learning algorithms, and sandbox analysis only received 12% or less of the answers among the survey participants.
With advanced features, financial institutions can more effectively monitor security threats on endpoints and ascertain the source and extent of an attack. Institutions that want to enhance their ability to detect and respond to threats might consider expanding their cybersecurity budget to increase spending on advanced anti-malware and endpoint protection features.
Recovery Strategies
As part of their recovery strategies, more than one-third of 144 survey respondents say they have implemented notification measures, including notifications to customers, regulators, and applicable insurance carriers. This is critical given the recently finalized interagency Computer-Security Incident Notification Rule. It requires banking organizations to notify their primary federal regulator about any significant “computer-security incident” as soon as possible after a cyber incident happens. (A computer-security incident, as defined by the rule, is an occurrence that results in actual harm to the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of an information system or the information that the system processes, stores, or transmits.) Nearly 30% also leverage other important recovery strategies such as monitoring for the early detection of potential incidents and eliminating intruder access points.
Other Key Security Issues
In addition to shedding light on how institutions use advanced features for anti-malware/anti-ransomware solutions, our comprehensive survey highlights several other security issues, including Microsoft 365 services, email infrastructure, advanced firewall features, vulnerability and patch management, and more. Banks and credit unions must effectively address all of these areas to stay ahead of the constantly evolving cybersecurity landscape.
Download a copy of our latest white paper to read the complete survey findings, which can provide a deeper understanding of current cybersecurity concerns and best practices to enhance your institution’s security posture.