The IT Nerd

Here’s a mind blowing stat for you. US finance firm JPMorgan Chase gets attacked by hackers an astonishing 45 million times a day. Here’s the details:

Mary Callahan Erdoes, Chief Executive of JPMorgan’s Asset & Wealth Management line discussed the increasing numbers of hacking attempts during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

‘The fraudsters get smarter, savvier, quicker, more devious, more mischievous,’ Erdoes said. 

‘It’s so hard and it’s going to become increasingly harder and that’s why staying one step ahead of it is really the job of each and everyone of us.’

JPMorgan isn’t the only bank dealing with a surge in cyberattacks.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago – rising global geopolitical tensions have caused cyber crime to skyrocket. 

Over 70 per cent of bank leaders in a 2023 KPMG survey reported being concerned about cyber crime and cyber insecurity. 

JPMorgan spends $15 billion each year just on technology to prevent cyber attacks as part of an effort to bolster its cyber defenses. 

This budget is up substantially from the $14.3 billion that the company spent on technology in 2022. 

Edroes also reported that JPMorgan Chase had employed 62,000 technologists to help secure systems and prevent hacking. 

Ken Westin, Field CISO, Panther Labs had this comment:

This type of messaging is not helpful to the industry without providing more specifics. It feels similar to the  “cyber apocalypse” we experienced a few years back to instill fear in consumers and businesses. In this instance, I am pretty sure they’re referring to vulnerability scans, DDoS attempts, bots etc. – most of which are automated and not really attacks, but I guess that depends on how they define an attack – context that I believe is lacking in this statement. Erdoes’ quote also refers to “fraudsters” which can also include credit card fraud, BEC attempts, etc. and not just “hackers.” We need to get beyond the fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) narratives in security, and focus on real threats with appropriate context – not push “monsters under the bed” narratives to keep CISOs up at night.

The fact that JPMorgan Chase hasn’t been taken out, at least not that we know of, is likely a good sign that their cyber defences are working. Whatever they are. It also highlights that other companies need to put in their level of effort to stay secure.

This entry was posted on January 18, 2024 at 11:41 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.