Cybersecurity spending grows…as does the threat

As the number of corporate cybersecurity threats grow, company treasurers intend to devote the same or more resources to defending their digital systems and estate – their websites, apps and other assets.

Cybersecurity spending grows…as does the threat

Working from home, the use of cryptocurrencies and even the advent of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) in the next few years are all seen as having added to the threat burden faced by corporates.

A survey of the world’s leading companies from Bottomline Technologies and Strategic Treasurer says 73 percent of banks and corporates were hit by fraud last year – and that more than half (53 percent) are bolstering their defences as a result.

The top fraud attempts on businesses come from business email compromise (BEC) and social engineering.

This year, respondents indicated that payment diversions also contributed to fraud attempts.

A significant portion of respondents indicated that the reliance on remote work increased their risk of fraud, and partly as a result, one in three firms (30 percent) intend to spend more on fraud prevention, detection and controls than in previous years.

In terms of new threats, a separate study from anti-money laundering start-up First AML reveals that seven in ten are concerned that cryptocurrency payments could be fraudulent – while less than half of companies feel prepared to face this threat.

Similar concerns were also expressed about the use of CBDCs, especially in a consumer context.

Taken together, these studies suggest that the right approach to the introduction of CBDCs is to use them as a wholesale banking instrument first, then focus on their consumer use in a second phase – as the UK plans to do, in contrast to Europe’s plan to pilot consumer use in limited geographies in a first phase.

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