Financial Institutions Under Fire: APT Attacks, Insider Threats, and DDoS Attacks

Cybersecurity threats have become an increasingly pressing concern for financial institutions in recent years. With the rise of Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), insider threats, and Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, it’s no wonder that the finance sector has become a prime target for hackers.

APT Attacks: The Silent Killers

APTs are highly sophisticated attacks that involve multiple stages, often targeting high-value assets and resulting in substantial data breaches. According to reports from Kaspersky and Cyfirma, financial organizations were the target of APT attacks in 2023 alone.

Insider Threats: The Enemy Within

Insider threats pose a significant risk to financial institutions, with average annual insider risk costs reaching $14.5 million. These attacks can be intentional or unintentional, making them challenging to detect and prevent. In the finance sector, the average cost of a data breach is a staggering $58.85 million.

DDoS Attacks: The Floodgates of Chaos

In 2023, DDoS attacks targeting financial services institutions rose to 35%. These attacks involve overwhelming online services with excessive traffic, causing disruptions and rendering services unavailable to legitimate users.

The Power of UEBA in Combating Threats

Unified Endpoint Behavior Analytics (UEBA) solutions like ManageEngine Log360 can help combat these threats by employing Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to analyze historical data and establish a baseline of normal behavior. By understanding what constitutes normal behavior, UEBA solutions are better positioned to identify anomalous activities indicative of security threats.

Examples of UEBA in Action

• Detecting Spear Phishing Attacks: In this example, Alpha Financial Inc.’s UEBA solution detected unusual behavior from an employee who had fallen prey to a spear phishing attack. The solution flagged the execution of multiple cmdlets in PowerShell and accessing numerous folders, alerting the IT administrator to seclude the system and prevent data exfiltration.
• Preventing DDoS Attacks: Omega Bank’s UEBA solution monitored their online banking services and detected unusual traffic patterns, alerting the security team to take action and mitigate the attack.
• Detecting Insider Threats: Goldguard Holdings’ UEBA solution detected an employee’s suspicious behavior, including accessing customer database queries and altering account notification permissions. The solution alerted the system administrator, enabling them to investigate and uncover the employee’s illicit activity.

ManageEngine Log360: A Unified SIEM Solution

ManageEngine Log360 is a comprehensive Unified Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution that provides ML-based user and entity behavior analytics, an integrated risk management system, and identity- based threat detection. With Log360, financial institutions can detect and prevent various internal and external threats, including APTs, insider threats, and DDoS attacks.

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