Cyberattacks on financial institutions have doubled in 5 years: BdeM

Cyber ​​risks remain one of the most relevant alarm points for the financial system worldwide, since the increase in frequency and sophistication of cyber attacks in recent months has doubled compared to those that occurred before the pandemic. of covid-19, announced the Bank of Mexico (BdeM).

According to the most recent Financial stability report of the central bank, the impact of the materialization of these risks is not limited to a single institution, since a successful cyber attack against a major financial entity could impact the country’s services and damage public trust.

By specifying that both the BdeM and the system’s regulatory bodies maintain various surveillance and prevention measures against risks and threats in terms of cybersecurity, he explained that derived from the growth in the use and sophistication of artificial intelligence (AI), it is relevant to follow up. to the evolution of the risks associated with its use.

“Novel technologies such as AI bring potential improvements to the financial system, such as automation and greater speed in decision-making, fraud detection, efficiency and access to services.

However, they also pose new risks when used by cybercriminal groups to boost their attacks, steal identities, deceive or misinform the population, or develop malicious code, among other illegal acts.

He exemplified that AI can help cybercriminals generate sophisticated and difficult-to-defend attacks on institutions, and can achieve specific objectives within them. This includes phishing (the practice of sending emails or links to Internet sites that look real and are viruses) enhanced that may look authentic and that would be very difficult to detect.

Regarding AI fraud, the BdeM pointed out that a worrying aspect is its potential use to spread fake news, which could influence trust and generate expectations, which could culminate, for example, in bank runs. And for the development of apocryphal multimedia content with the aim of carrying out more advanced digital frauds.

For this reason, the central bank confirmed that it monitors the evolution and adoption of this technology in the financial system, and incorporates those derived from AI into its institutional risk management.

Two cyber attacks

The BdeM also revealed that in the past six months, regulated financial institutions reported two cyberattacks, for which a response group was activated and no economic impacts were recorded for the clients of the attacked institutions, nor were there any significant economic impacts on the entities.

In this regard, the central bank considered that the most recurrent cyber threats are cybercriminal groups; data kidnapping (ransomware) and credit card information vendors.

“Cybercriminal activity represented the most significant threat in the period. These groups have intensified and sophisticated their attacks to breach the electronic transfer services offered by financial institutions.

“On the other hand, the ransomware “This is another highly significant threat during the period. Attacks of this type have managed to affect the electronic channels and systems of the branches of a financial institution, causing delays in the delivery of services and inconvenience to customers by preventing them from making transactions,” the central bank added.