Kaspersky Lab, the global cybersecurity firm, has published its threat predictions for 2017, which includes the commoditisation of financial attacks and the compromise of payment systems, the fragility of an indiscriminately Internet-connected world, and the use of cyberattacks as a weapon of information warfare. Some of the threats to the financial industry included on the list are as follow:

1. The commoditisation of financial attacks: Kaspersky Lab expects to see the ‘commodification’ of attacks along the lines of the 2016 SWIFT heists in 2016 – with specialized resources being offered for sale in underground forums or through as-a-service schemes.
2. The compromise of payment systems: As payment systems become increasingly popular and common, Kaspersky Lab expects to see this matched by a greater criminal interest.
3. The rise of information warfare: In 2016, the world started to take seriously the dumping of hacked information for aggressive purposes. Such attacks are likely to increase in 2017, and there is a risk that attackers will try to exploit people’s willingness to accept such data as fact by manipulating or selectively disclosing information.
4. Alongside this, Kaspersky Lab expects to see a rise in vigilante hackers – hacking and dumping data, allegedly for the greater good.
5. Growing vulnerability to cyber-sabotage: As critical infrastructure and manufacturing systems remain connected to the Internet, often with little or no protection – the temptation to damage or disrupt them could prove overwhelming for cyber attackers, particularly those with advanced skills, and during times of rising geopolitical tension.
6. Espionage goes mobile: Kaspersky Lab expects to see more espionage campaigns targeted primarily at mobile, benefiting from the fact that the security industry can struggle to gain full access to mobile operating systems for forensic analysis.
7. Device integrity in an over-crowded Internet: As IoT-device manufacturers continue to pump out unsecured devices that cause wide-scale problems, there is a risk that vigilante hackers could take matters into their own hands and disable as many devices as possible.

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CTMfile take: the first two cyber threats named on this list shoud definitely be on the corporate treasurer's agenda.