Cyber Security at The National Bank of Ukraine

Cyber attack is a modern way of executing crime using digital technology. The National Bank of Ukraine is among the numerous organizations that have reported being offended through external hacking, which is one of the ways of executing the cyber attack. The National Bank of Ukraine is a financial organization that provides a variety of financial products and services. The type of cyber attack that occurred is hacking, which affected the functionality of the electronic infrastructure of the bank. The organization responded to it by scanning all its work stations for viral and suspicious files. Additionally, the bank redoubled its awareness of the cyber defense and warned other financial institutions in the country of a potential external attacker (The National Bank of Ukraine, 2017, para 2). Certainly, such a strategy would help to minimize the chances of the attack spreading to other organizations.

The electronic infrastructure of the bank, which includes the internal computer network and electronic payment system, was affected by the attack. Delayed customer service due to the slowdown in the operations of the bank led to financial loss. Thus, the cost of the attack is the financial loss suffered by the organization. Noteworthy, the IT infrastructure is the major target of the cyber attackers (Bordoff, Chen, & Yan, 2017, p. 3).  The bank responded to the attack by strengthening its cyber defense system.  In particular, it changed its operating procedure to ensure that all suspicious files are scanned to minimize the risk of future attacks. However, the organization should ensure that its IT infrastructure acquire sophisticated security systems that facilitate white listing of authorized sites and disable suspicious applications (Conteh & Schmick, 2016, p. 34). Other steps that the bank can take include strengthening encryptions and providing advanced training to support the efforts of IT department staff in curbing cyber attacks. The sophistication of the IT security systems will enable the company to detect and abort all forms of cyber threats before they can affect its operating infrastructure and information systems.

 

References

Bordoff, S., Chen, Q., & Yan, Z. (2017). Cyber attacks, contributing factors, and tackling strategies: The current status of the science of cybersecurity. International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning (IJCBPL), 7(4), 68-82. 

Conteh, N. Y., & Schmick, P. J. (2016). Cybersecurity: Risks, vulnerabilities and countermeasures to prevent social engineering attacks. International Journal of Advanced Computer Research, 6(23), 31-38.

The National Bank of Ukraine (2017, June 27). The National Bank of Ukraine warned banks and other financial market participants about an external hacker attack. Retrieved from https://bank.gov.ua/control/en/publish/article?art_id=51024813.