‘Modern Bank Heists’ Threat Report from Carbon Black + Optiv Finds Increase in Cyberattacks Targeting Surveyed Financial Institutions, 160% Increase in Destructive Attacks
Report reveals the cyber threats keeping financial CISOs awake at night, including Emotet, Steganography & Hidden Cobra
SAN FRANCISCO, March 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RSA CONFERENCE –– (NASDAQ: CBLK), a leader in cloud delivered, next-generation endpoint security, and , one of the world’s leading security solutions integrators, today released a threat report on the financial sector: . The report found that 67% of financial organizations surveyed have reported an increase in cyberattacks over the past 12 months, while destructive attacks have increased 160% over the past year.
“Financial institutions are grappling with some of the most sophisticated cyber crime syndicates,” said Tom Kellermann, the report’s author and Chief Cybersecurity Officer at Carbon Black. “Perhaps the most concerning indication from this report is the stark increase in destructive attacks, which are rarely conducted for financial gain. Rather, these attacks are launched to be punitive by destroying data. Cybercriminals have formed sophisticated approaches to gain access to confidential banking and financial information and organizations need to be aware of the impending threats.”
For the report, Carbon Black collaborated with Optiv Security to survey financial industry customers to uncover cyberattack trends seen by some of the world’s leading CISOs to better determine how today’s sophisticated cybercriminals are hiding behind invisibility cloaks to remain undetected.
Among the key findings from the report:
- 67% of surveyed financial organizations have reported an increase in cyberattacks over the past 12 months
- 79% of surveyed financial institutions said cybercriminals have become more sophisticated
- 26% of surveyed financial institutions were targeted by destructive attacks, a 160% increase over 2018
- 32% of surveyed financial institutions encountered island hopping through supply chain vendors and partners
- 21% of surveyed financial institutions experienced a watering hole attack, where sites are hijacked and visitors are misled to malicious pages
“As threat actors continue to grow in sophistication and determination, it is imperative now more than ever for security leaders to evaluate their digital footprint from the perspective of the enemy,” said Bill Young, Vice President Threat Management, Optiv. “By using an inside-out approach to cybersecurity – starting with risk mitigation and building out from there with strategy, infrastructure rationalization, operations optimization and ongoing measurement – we believe financial institutions can close vulnerability gaps and respond to new threats in systematic ways. The time and cost involved in adopting a comprehensive inside-out cybersecurity approach to gain an understanding of threat actor intent, and employing offensive security policies to close security gaps, is a small price to pay.”
The report, available for download on takes a look at some of the key attack types financial institutions are encountering, including Emotet, steganography and Hidden Cobra.
About Carbon Black
Carbon Black (NASDAQ: CBLK) is a leader in endpoint security dedicated to keeping the world safe from cyberattacks. The company’s big data and analytics platform, the CB Predictive Security Cloud (PSC), consolidates endpoint security and IT operations into an extensible cloud platform that prevents advanced threats, provides actionable insight and enables businesses of all sizes to simplify operations. By analyzing billions of security events per day across the globe, Carbon Black has key insights into attackers’ behavior patterns, enabling customers to detect, respond to and stop emerging attacks.
More than 5,000 global customers, including 34 of the Fortune 100, trust Carbon Black to protect their organizations from cyberattacks. The company’s partner ecosystem features more than 500 MSSPs, VARs, distributors and technology integrations, as well as many of the world’s leading IR firms, who use Carbon Black’s technology in more than 500 breach investigations per year.
Carbon Black and CB Predictive Security Cloud are registered trademarks or trademarks of Carbon Black, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions.
About Optiv Security
Optiv helps clients plan, build and run successful cyber security programs that achieve business objectives through our depth and breadth of cyber security offerings, extensive capabilities and proven expertise in cybersecurity, integration and cyber operational services. Optiv maintains premium partnerships with more than 350 of the leading cybersecurity technology manufacturers. For more information, visit .
Media Relations
Ryan Murphy, Carbon Black
Senior PR Manager
917-693-2788
