2013-07-23 – London
Report on Quantum Dawn 2 cyber-attack expected out next month
The financial industry is finally starting to take the issue of a coordinated cyber-attack very seriously. In an exercise run by SIFMA, a US-based securities industry trade group, participants from the financial services sector and the US government tested their defence infrastructure designed to ward off damage from potential hacking attacks. The online drill, code-named Quantum Dawn 2, involved 50 institutions including industry entities of varying sizes as well as the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
The exercise simulated a number of systemic cyber attacks aimed at disrupting equities trading on US exchanges. Karl Schimmeck, VP at SIFMA, said cyber security has become a top priority for the financial industry, with companies increasing their efforts to address online crime in recent years. Firms participated via remote conferencing and no real systems were harmed.
The mock attack comes at a critical time for the industry. Earlier this year, online so-called hacktivists launched a high-volume attack, disrupting online banking services and causing temporary disruption of consumer websites and of industry giants such as JP Morgan Chase, American Express and Wells Fargo. The systems of these companies were flooded with traffic sent from infected computers, rendering bank servers unable to operate.
In March, a security firm was hit by the biggest ever attack triggered by cyber criminals, which, according to one security consultant almost brought a large part of the internet to a standstill.
Experts fear companies are still ill-equipped to fend off cyber-attacks, earning the industry an “F” rating in ‘cyber-warfare capability and readiness’, David Kennedy CEO at Trustedsec said in a Bloomberg interview. He believes that the financial industry in general is largely unprepared for a large scale attack.
Smaller companies are particularly at risk of cyber crime. According to City analysts, there is a trend towards targeting middle ranking firms, such as wealth managers and stockbrokers, who generally lack sophisticated defence infrastructures.
