Whether hacktivists or criminals, cyber attacks against banks are on the rise. Financial executives surveyed by PwC said data breaches nearly tripled to 4,628 in 2013. What does this mean for US banks? More protection costs and losses due to trading disruptions. Given that most of banks’ earning growth come from cost cutting these days, rising online warfare is bad news. The overall cost of internet-related attacks against financial institutions is hard to pin down, as many avoid disclosing breaches. But a report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and McAfee estimates that overall (for all industries) the cost of cybercrimes is between $375bn and $575bn, annually. Given that more than 50 per cent of attacks are financially (rather than politically) motivated, according to Verizon, big banks handling trillions of dollars daily are prime targets. Some notable victims of a 2012 attack include Wells Fargo, JPMorgan and Bank of America.
無論發起者是駭客行動主義者還是犯罪分子，總之現在針對銀行的網路攻擊是越來越多。普華永道(PwC)查訪的金融業高階主管表示，2013年數據遭竊事件成長了近兩倍，至4628起。這對美國銀行業意味著什麼？答案是更高的防護成本，以及交易中斷造成的更大損失。鑑於最近銀行的利潤成長基本來自於削減成本，網路戰加劇可不是什麼好訊息。以金融機構爲目標的網路相關攻擊帶來的總體成本，現在還難以確定，因爲很多機構不願承認受到攻擊。但戰略與國際研究中心(Centre for Strategic and International Studies)和邁克菲(McAfee)聯合撰寫的一份報告估計，每年網路犯罪行爲（給各行各業）帶來的總體成本在3750億美元至5750億美元之間。Verizon表示，鑑於其中逾50%的攻擊都是出於經濟（而非政治）動機，每日經手數萬億美元的大銀行成爲了主要目標。2012年某次攻擊的部分知名受害者包括富國銀行(Wells Fargo)、摩根大通(JPMorgan)和美國銀行(Bank of America)。