The UK Cabinet Office estimates that the annual cost of cybercrime to the UK economy tops £27bn.
However, the threat has even more deeply-rooted symptoms. As Theresa May said last year “cybercrime undermines confidence in our communications technology and online economy”. By reducing confidence, the damage that cybercrime could cause to the UK’s burgeoning tech and finance industries is huge.
The threats posed by hackers, whether acting as individuals, as part of groups, or on behalf of a state, are serious – and professionals, firms and nations need to be fully prepared.
In response to the growing risk to the financial sector, The Bank of England has stepped up its efforts to protect the UK's financial institutions from cybercrime with a new testing framework.
These tests are designed to use government intelligence about existing cyber-threats and combine that with threats that firms across the security industry assess to be risks.
The new strategy, known as CBEST, is the first of its kind for the financial services sector, and tests begin this summer.
Following requests from leading financial services firms, the CISI has developed a range of resources to help members get the insight and information they need to be aware of the cybercrime threat, and learn techniques to help their firms defend against it.
The CISI’s Cybercrime Professional Refresher module examines relevant UK legislation, computer fraud, hacking and the new technology and security concerns. On CISI TV, members can catch up with the latest on the cyber security risks in cloud services. Both Professional Refresher and CISI TV are free to CISI members.
To develop this knowledge further, CISI members can book on to a CPD course, Hot Topics in Cybercrime, highlighting the growing cyber threats and explaining the risks in a non-technical way.