With $54 trillion in payments flowing through the world's leading transaction avenues, the payments space is truly exploding.
Traditional banks are moving full speed ahead in fulfilling consumer expectations for instant and easy digital payments by rolling out new offerings.
In 2022, more than 60% of global financial institutions with over $5 billion in assets were hit by cyberattacks as cybercriminals look to compromise the rapidly growing - and lucrative - financial industry.
Because of the rate that the payments sector in particular is evolving, CISOs and their cybersecurity teams in this space are finding it increasingly difficult to stay one step ahead of bad actors.
With that in mind, here are a few of the key factors that are making the payments sector one of the most interesting areas to watch in terms of cybersecurity.
For years, apps like Venmo and other digital channels have become a more and more popular avenue for purchases and payments among consumers.
Like with so many industries, the COVID-19 pandemic completely changed the payments landscape, with consumers now demanding - rather than preferring - that banks and non-bank fintechs make it easy, cheap, and fast to execute online transactions, especially payments.
That even the government is getting in on the payments game through the US Federal Reserve's FedNow.
Digital payments and cryptocurrency are also becoming more intertwined - see payments leader PayPal's recent move to make digital assets available for their users through their digital wallet.
This surge in payments tech adoption, and the growing diversity in the types of payments offerings has made the space ripe for innovation but also for cybersecurity threats.
The payments card industry is working overtime to meet the standards of PCI Data Security Standard v4.0 which goes into effect March 2025.
This confluence of overlapping oversight is making it increasingly challenging not just for payments stakeholders to remain compliant but to formulate effective cybersecurity strategies moving forward.
Cybercriminals have become adept at seizing on gaps in the cybersecurity posture of companies caused by a rapidly expanding attack surface created by the adoption of new technologies like blockchain, generative AI, and cloud computing.
In 2021, 62% of system intrusion incidents in the payments delivery chain stemmed from vendors, partners, and third-parties - clearly demonstrating that while a more interconnected payments landscape may have certain upsides, it comes with significant cybersecurity downsides.
With more and more money moving across the internet at increasing speeds and through varied infrastructures - and soon Web3 - security leaders have more fronts to defend, more regulations to comply with, and more brand reputation risks on their plates than ever before.
These issues will only continue to grow as digital payments become more ubiquitous and offerings like digital lending and securities trading proliferate.
This presents significant challenges for payments stakeholders to contend with and is why payments is likely to become one of the most talked about sectors in the cybersecurity world in the years ahead. About the Author.
Norman Comstock serves as a senior leader for UHY Consulting's Technology, Risk & Compliance group focusing on Cybersecurity Solutions.
Norman has more than twenty-five years of experience providing strategic consulting services.
Luke Nelson is a Managing Director for UHY Consulting focusing on Cybersecurity Solutions and Technology Risk services.
This Cyber News was published on www.cyberdefensemagazine.com. Publication date: Wed, 03 Jan 2024 07:13:06 +0000