SecurityScorecard’s latest research, centred on the looming Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) compliance deadline of January 2025, reveals a disturbing level of third-party and fourth-party cybersecurity breaches among Europe’s largest financial institutions.
The report analysed 240 such institutions and found that 78% had experienced a third-party data breach in the past year. An even higher percentage, 84%, were exposed to a fourth-party breach, illustrating a complex web of hidden risks.
Shockingly, only 3% of third-party vendors examined were breached, revealing the immense “butterfly effect” of supply chain attacks and the power they hold in the threat landscape. Meanwhile, a concerning 18% of financial institutions were rated ‘C’ or below in terms of cybersecurity, making them four to seven times more likely to suffer a breach than ‘A’ rated institutions.
The study also shed light on industry-specific vulnerabilities. Retail banks emerged as the most vulnerable, with 82% experiencing a third-party breach in the past year, and 8% suffering from breaches within their own domain.
Insurance firms reported the lowest security scores, with 24% having a ‘C’ security rating or below, and 78% reported a third- or fourth-party breach. On the other hand, private equity firms appeared to be faring best, with no breaches on their own domains, and the highest ratings, with only 9% at a ‘C’ rating or below.
The DORA regulation aims to bring a systematic approach to digital cyber risk. It mandates that financial entities identify and assess all third-party risks, including threats to data, systems, and the entity’s continued operation in the event of an incident.
SecurityScorecard Chief Sales Officer Matthew McKenna stated, “If nearly 20% of the most well-resourced financial entities in the EU have grades of C or worse, then it’s likely that the overall cyber resilience for other financial entities is actually much lower.”
Dan Morgan, Senior Government Affairs Director, Europe & APAC, SecurityScorecard, noted, “Who financial entities choose to trust and how they sustain that trust are essential factors for the resilience of the EU’s financial services sector.”
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