Cyber security now ranks as the principal concern of the financial services industry, according to a new survey released by The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC).

Eighty four per cent of respondents in its Systemic Risk Barometer identified cyber-risk as one of their top five concerns – an increase of 25 points since the last survey was conducted in March. Furthermore, 33 per cent ranked cyber-attacks as the number one systemic risk to the broader economy, up from 24 per cent from March.

“No institution – large or small, public or private – is immune to a potential cyber-attack,” says Mark Clancy, DTCC corporate information security officer and CEO at Soltra. “All of us need to become agile in response to these rapidly evolving threats by being able to share information about attackers’ activities between multiple stakeholders and shifting the model from individual institution’s static defenses to dynamic community responses. This shift requires both the maturation of operational capabilities and public policy frameworks to be successful.”

Elsewhere, 64 per cent of respondents cited the impact of new regulation as a top five concern; 62 per cent flagged up geopolitical risk and 37 per cent said that the probability of a high-impact event in the global financial system has increased during the past six months – up 16 points since March. Seventy six per cent said they have increased the amount of resources dedicated to identifying, monitoring and mitigating systemic risks over the past year.

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