October 10, 2016
Australia’s $2.1 trillion pool of retirement savings is being targeted disproportionately in serious cyber attacks on the financial sector, official figures suggest.
Banks, insurance companies, and wealth managers all face an increasingly elaborate array of cyber attacks, but a recent survey by the financial regulator shows the superannuation industry was attacked most frequently within the sector.
While financial institutions have not yet suffered a “material” loss from these incidents, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority plans to take a tougher line in making sure the sector can fend off cyber attacks.
APRA last week released the results of survey looking into cyber security incidents at 37 financial institutions between last October and this March, and how they were managed.
More than half of the businesses had been hit with an attack serious enough to warrant involvement from executive managers in the 12 months before the survey.
The superannuation industry was the most likely to have been hit by such an attack, with 75 per cent of funds experiencing a cyber security “incident” that was serious enough to report to executive managers. In comparison, 44 per cent of banks and 46 per cent of insurers suffered incidents that were elevated to such a level.