Majority of cybersecurity pros say remote work drove dramatic change in financial services' cyber programs: Survey

75% of cybersecurity professionals representing financial institutions around the world made dramatic changes to their firm’s cybersecurity programs to cope with the rapid shift to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a poll conducted by The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), an industry consortium dedicated to reducing cyber risk in the global financial system.  

FS-ISAC polled 871 cybersecurity professionals from financial institutions around the world at its Virtual Summit on May 19, which gathered more than 3000 cybersecurity professionals in the financial services industry. The poll gauged which trends driven by the pandemic had the most impact on their cybersecurity programs. 

Key findings include: 

• Digital banking tools were ready to securely handle a huge increase in volume as only 3% of respondents saw these tools driving significant program changes 
• 11% of respondents said third party risk concerns led to dramatic change 
• 46% reported their financial institution is likely to invest more in cybersecurity post-pandemic 

“The accelerated shift to remote work has fueled a rapid evolution of the cyber threat landscape,” said Steve Silberstein, CEO of FS-ISAC. “As the effects of this pandemic continue to unfold, CISOs and cybersecurity teams are constantly adapting their cybersecurity programs to meet a new reality that is everything but normal.”

To support its nearly 7,000 members in sharing information about cyber threats, including those derived from the pandemic, FS-ISAC launched the FS-ISAC Intelligence Exchange in April 2020. The platform includes a new cyber intelligence sharing app and a secure chat function for real-time communication and collaboration. Since its launch, more than 6,000 users globally have adopted the new platform.