The event addressed information security in the critical financial services sector and the challenges it faces, and aimed to shed light on the required infrastructure improvements and the role played by cooperation and preemptive moves in electronic protection. Cisco was able to use this platform to share insights on how cyber security concerns do not need to be a hindrance to digital innovation and how retail banks can transform cyber security from a liability into an asset that supports customer trust, innovation and growth.

Cisco’s recently released research paper titled Roadmap to Digital Value in the Retail Banking Industry, revealed that retail banks have the potential to realise $405.3 billion from 2015 to 2017 as the Digital Value at Stake (VaS). Yet in 2015, financial services as a whole captured just 29 percent of that opportunity. Of the challenges slowing growth and innovation, cyber security weakness is certainly at the forefront. Cyber security concerns have prevented retail banks from adopting digital technologies and business models which has directly contributed to them missing out on more than 70 percent of the potential revenue opportunity.

“Cyber attacks against financial services firms are more frequent, more sophisticated and more widespread than ever before. And there is no slowdown in sight. As financial services firms move towards digitisation and adopt new ways of supporting customer interactions, the attack ‘surface’ grows in size. Professional hackers are rapidly adopting new forms of attacks such as spear phishing, ransomware, massive data theft and mobile malware. To combat today’s advanced attacks, financial firms need a threat-centric approach to security that provides continuous protection not just before an attack happens but also during and after an attacker or malware penetrates the network,” said Ziad Salameh, Managing Director – West Region, Cisco Middle East.