Cyber security: protecting your business and your clients and Probability: Difference between pages

From ACT Wiki
(Difference between pages)
Jump to navigationJump to search
imported>Jeeten.patel@thinkpublishing.co.uk
No edit summary
 
imported>Doug Williamson
(Link with Confidence interval page.)
 
Line 1: Line 1:
<skin>actskin</skin>
The study of chance providing an objective measure of uncertainty.
{{Infobox
|name        =
|bodystyle    = width:300px;


|titlestyle  =
Probabilities range between 1 (=100%) and 0 (=0%).  
|abovestyle = background:#490024; color: #fff; padding:5px 0px;
|subheaderstyle =
  |title        =
|above        = Treasury professional
|subheader    =
|subheader2  =


|imagestyle  = padding:5px 0px;
A probability of 100% means that an event is considered certain to occur.  
|captionstyle =
|image        = [[File:Treasurers_handbook_image.png|285px|alt=Treasurers Handbook]]
|caption      =


  |headerstyle  = background:#490024; color:#fff; padding:5px 0px; font-size:10pt;
A probability of 0% means that an event is considered certain not to occur.  
|labelstyle  = padding-top:7px; padding-bottom:5px; min-width:75px;
|datastyle    = padding-top:7px; padding-bottom:5px;;




|header1 = 
For example, flipping an unbiased coin, the probability of getting a head is often modelled as 50%.
| label1 = &nbsp;
|  data1 = &nbsp;




  |header1 = Authors
This simple model of a coin flip assumes that the only two possibilities are a head or a tail. Applying such simple models to financial situations, and treating financial outcomes as simple coin flips, may lead to errors resulting from:
| label1 =
|  data1 =
|header2 =
| label2 = Paul Young
|  data2 = Director of Cyber Security, Deloitte Consulting
|header3 =
| label3 = Simon Shorey
|  data3 = Head of Online Channels, Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking


|belowstyle = background:#ddf;
#The coin landing on its side 'more often than it's supposed to'.
|below      =
#The underlying assumption of an unbiased coin not being valid.
}}


{| class="wikitable floatright" style="width:300px; background:#fff"
! colspan="2" style="background: #490024; color:#fff; width:200px; font-size:10pt" | Sponsored by
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | [[File:Sponsor_lloyds.png|200px|link=http://www.lloydsbank.com|alt=Sponsored by Lloyds]]
|}
==Introduction==
There’s no doubt that the digital revolution is driving business innovation and growth. As well as driving down costs, technological innovations are presenting businesses with other opportunities, such as increasing integration and driving efficiencies. However, alongside these opportunities, technology is exposing corporates and their customers to new and emerging threats. Businesses are increasingly exposed to cyber attacks, which can result in damage to their reputation and brand, as well as financial loss and customer attrition.
==From script-kiddies to hacktivists==
There’s a clear need for businesses to protect themselves and their customers – but taking action is not necessarily straightforward. For one thing, not all cyber-criminals are alike. Perpetrators range from young ‘script-kiddies’, who embark on cybercrime for fun before focusing on financial gain, to organised networks of criminals. Other types of attacker include politically motivated hacktivists engaging in disruptive attacks at individual or group level, and sophisticated nation states and spies armed with significant funding and highly sophisticated monitoring and attack methods. At the same time, cyber attacks tend to include different stages of activity, which can make it difficult to identify threats early. Attacks can remain undetected for large periods of time while infiltrators assess the information they are able to gather, before conducting the more noisy and detectable process of asset capture.
==The treasury threat==
Anyone in a company can fall victim to a cyber attack – but access to sensitive financial information and systems makes treasurers a particularly attractive target. As such, they should be fully versed in the company’s risk management strategy. Treasurers should first and foremost be aware of the latest risks and understand the very high likelihood that the company will be the target of a cyber attack at some point – at some level, it’s almost inevitable. And the risk of actual breaches is high. A 2014 survey [http://www.pwc.co.uk/services/audit-assurance/insights/2014-information-security-breaches-survey.html] commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills showed that 81% of large organisations had experienced a security breach over the previous year, with the average cost of their worst breach at £600,000-£1.15m.


 
== See also ==
In order to prepare for an attack, treasurers should also take action to reduce the net impact of any breach and minimise the time taken to recover. To establish current levels of resilience, they should ask themselves the following questions:
* [[Black swan]]
 
* [[Conditional probability]]
* Does my organisation know exactly what information is most valuable/most attractive to criminals?
* [[Confidence interval]]
* Do I have a clear procedure to follow in case of a suspicious action or event?
* [[Frequency distribution]]
* Do I know who is monitoring security within the company? Do they have the appropriate skillset and provide sufficient information about current threats?
* [[Poisson distribution]]
* What’s the worst possible outcome if my organisation was victim to an attack?
* Is staff cyber-security awareness and training being taken seriously?
 
==Best-in-class response==
Cyber security is an evolving process. As hackers become more sophisticated and organised, it is important for businesses to constantly evolve and review their protocols. Prevention is better than cure – but a company cannot completely remove the risk that a breach will take place.
 
 
As such, it’s important to respond quickly when an attack does occur. A best-in-class cyber-security response would minimise the chances of defences being breached and in case they are, detect infiltration within minutes, with the organisation immediately alerted. By identifying attacks so quickly, the company may be able to contain the breach, pass the details over to law enforcement officers and closely manage media coverage, enabling the business to continue to prosper. If, on the other hand, the breach is not detected and the unauthorised data transmission continues unchecked for several days, the impact of the breach is likely to be much more severe and could domino in either direction along the supply chain.
 
 
Sensitive data may be irrecoverable, while rumours percolating on social media may result in adverse media coverage that cannot be controlled. The result: serious damage to the company’s reputation.
 
==A company-wide concern==
As they work to protect themselves and their customers, companies are ramping up security across their infrastructure and applications and are managing access to company systems more closely. But cybercrime is not just an IT issue: the risk touches people at all levels of the organisation. As well as increasing security, companies are also putting in place comprehensive company-wide plans.
 
 
With recognition of this issue growing at board level, cyber-risk governance has become a top-down priority. Companies are addressing staff behaviour by increasing awareness of the relevant threats and educating employees about the company’s security culture. In order to gauge their level of preparation, some companies are also using ethical hackers to test their systems and draw up a defence strategy to cover any scenario. By running attack simulations and incident response exercises, companies can dramatically improve their chances of resisting an attack.
 
 
In conclusion, the difference between succumbing to a cyber attack and thwarting it is preparation. By putting in place comprehensive measures to protect themselves, companies should aim to react to a threat within minutes rather than days. Companies should also remember that cyber criminals are becoming more sophisticated every day – so whatever strategy the company has in place should evolve in line with the associated threats.
==Cyber security==
By running attack simulations and incident response exercises, companies can dramatically improve their chances of resisting an attack.
 
 
 
''Lloyds Bank plc. Registered office: 25 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7HN. Registered in England and Wales, no. 2065. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. We subscribe to the Lending Code; copies of the Code can be obtained at www.lendingstandardsboard.org.uk''

Revision as of 19:48, 23 March 2016

The study of chance providing an objective measure of uncertainty.

Probabilities range between 1 (=100%) and 0 (=0%).

A probability of 100% means that an event is considered certain to occur.

A probability of 0% means that an event is considered certain not to occur.


For example, flipping an unbiased coin, the probability of getting a head is often modelled as 50%.


This simple model of a coin flip assumes that the only two possibilities are a head or a tail. Applying such simple models to financial situations, and treating financial outcomes as simple coin flips, may lead to errors resulting from:

  1. The coin landing on its side 'more often than it's supposed to'.
  2. The underlying assumption of an unbiased coin not being valid.


See also