Blog

A combination of anxiety and enthusiasm can be commonly heard ringing in today’s boardrooms and their virtual equivalents when it comes to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues.

Given the mass adoption of new technology and adapting to new hybrid ways of working, organisations have been outsourcing more of their mission critical business functions and IT infrastructure to entities (often out of the regulated scope), increasing dependency,  concentrating risk and potentially jeopardising market integrity.

Financial service and financial market infrastructure firms are increasingly relying on a limited number of third parties outside of the sector for business-critical key functions and services. As an example of this dependency, over 65% of UK firms use the same four cloud-based computing service providers! 

The frequency, sophistication, and potential damage cyberattacks can cause these days are reaching new, all-time highs. The acceleration of digital warfare has been exponential, with recent geopolitical clashes, civil unrest, and the COVID-19 pandemic drastically amplifying attempts by organised cybercriminals to infiltrate data centres, financial service organisations, and critical national infrastructure. If you think cyber-attacks are not a threat to your organisation, then you need to Think Again!

The consequences of the existing geopolitical conflict between Ukraine and Russia will impact the financial system and the geopolitical stability of countries beyond European borders.