The Banking Executive Magazine, Issue 154, October 2021

Windows 11 use their digital money like credit cards and debit cards for transac- tions. These transactions have to be protected from cybercrimes. Cybercrimes in digital banking does not only affect the customer, but it also affects the banks data. Banks may need to spend a considerable amount of money to recover data or information attacked by cybercrimi- nals. A strong cybersecurity is a must for banks as data breaches may make it tough to trust financial institutions. It may cause severe problems for banks. Cybersecurity in digital bank- ing ensures that sensitive data is safe and secure. If data is not protected, any data breach may cause substantial finan- cial loss to banks and customers. Without a robust cybersecurity meas- ure in place, sensitive data may be at risk. Cybersecurity threats The biggest cybersecurity threats to banks are: •Unencrypted data: One of the common threats faced by banks is when the data is left unencrypted, and hackers or cy- bercriminals use the data right away, thereby creating severe is- sues for the financial institution. All data that is stored on computers in financial institutions or online must be fully encrypted. This will ensure that even if data is stolen, cyber- criminals may not be able to use them. • Malware: End to end-user devices like com- puters and mobile devices are mostly used for conducting digital transactions and must be secured. Malware pose a serious risk to banks whenever they connect with the network. Sensitive data passes through the network, and if the user device has malware installed in it without any security that mal- ware can pose a serious threat to the bank’s network. • Third-party services: Many banks and financial institu- tions use third-party services from other vendors to serve their cus- tomers better. However, if these vendors do not have tight cyberse- curity measures, then the bank may face security problems from the third-party services. • Spoofing: This is one of the newest forms of cyber threats faced by banks. The cybercriminals impersonate a banking website’s URL with a web- site that is similar to the original one and functions the same way and when the user enters his or her login credentials that login creden- tials are stolen by these criminals and used later. This cyber threat has gone to the next level where new spoofing techniques have been employed by cybercriminals. Cybercriminals use a similar URL and target users who visit the cor- rect URL. • Phishing: Phishing is the attempt to get sen- sitive information such as credit card details for malicious activities by disguising as a trustworthy en- tity in an electronic communica- tion. Online banking phishing scams have evolved continuously. ISSUE 154 OCTOBER 2021 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 31