Cyber Risks in Business Continuity Management and Supply Chain Resilience for Financial Institutions

Alexander Ellrodt

“The focus on credit, market and liquidity risk over the last five years may have distracted attention from operational, and in particular cyber risks, among financial institutions and infrastructures. This is a rapidly rising area of risk with potentially systemic implications.”

Andy Haldane, executive director of financial stability, Bank of England, 2013

There is no doubting the emergence of new forms of cyber attacks threatening the operations and businesses of global financial institutions and other industry sectors. Financial institutions are increasingly vulnerable to incoming cybersecurity threats from new directions and adversaries. Attacks in the form of “hacktivism”, corporate espionage, insider and nation-states’ threats, terrorism, and criminal activity can cost an organisation time, resources, and irreparable harm to its reputation (PwC 2014a). Even if the risks of cyber attacks as such are not new, there is a change in pattern and volume that is exponentially rising and will continue to do so. In addition to well-known brand names and large corporations, midsize businesses and startup companies are also more frequently targeted.

A 2014 study by