Verizon’s Paul Pratley Outlines Threat Patterns Facing Finance, Insurance Industry

Paul Pratley, global investigations manager in the Verizon RISK team, has outlined the key threat patterns the finance and insurance industry is facing as they work to protect client and enterprise data.

Pratley wrote in a blog article Wednesday that Web app-based, denial of service and skimming attacks accounted for 75 percent of security cases in 2014.

He said financial firms become vulnerable to Web attacks as their reliance on this tool to deliver services grows.

Pratley recommended using multi-factor authentication, implementing lockout policies and switching to a static content management system to secure network access of customers and employees.

DOS attacks grew 115 percent from 2011, Pratley noted, advising users to keep critical systems isolated to protect them from attacks targeting servers.

Pratley also advised the use of tamper-resistant terminals and tamper-evident controls, as well as to remain vigilant in order to address skimming threats.

“The organized criminal groups responsible for skimming attacks are getting extremely sophisticated in their tactics — some use 3D-printing technology to create replicas of ATM fascias that are incredibly difficult to tell from the real thing,” said Pratley.