Study finds little improvement in enterprise banking security

Enterprises and small businesses in particular are continuing to fall victim to financial attacks, according to a recent report.

Research group Ponemon Institute and security firm Guardian Analytics reported that a survey of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) found little change in the number of banking fraud and financial attack inicidents.

Overall, the study found that 56 per cent of those surveyed had experienced an attempted or successful payments fraud incident in the last 12 months, and 85 per cent of those incidents were only noted after the money had left the victim's account.

"The type of fraud that we were studying has not gotten better in the last year," Guardian Analytics chief executive Terry Austin told V3.co.uk.

"There has not been any movement on an overall basis and there's no discernable improvement in the proactive protection of fraud."

Businesses are not the only party getting hit as a result of fraud. The study found that of the businesses that had fallen victim to financial fraud, 43 per cent ended up cutting ties with their bank as a result of the incident.

Austin, whose company specialises in analytic tools to help detect and prevent financial fraud, floated the analysis platforms as one way for banks and financial service providers to help protect against attacks.

"There is a lot of opportunity for financial institutions to step up and do more," he said,

"There is a lot of capability in the market that is available for them."