Cyber Security gaps pose risks and rewards Posted on : May 05 - 2015

Lawmakers and regulators in Asia have stepped up scrutiny of cybersecurity threats, boosting the hiring market for consultants.

“Banks are definitely increasing their expenditure,” Paul O’Rourke, cybersecurity leader for Asia Pacific Ernst & Young, said. “In some areas of cybersecurity, because it is in such demand, it is becoming increasingly hard to acquire and to retain resources. It is a very hot market for skilled practitioners.”

Some banks are looking to recruit younger, tech savvy staff. “Banks need to be constantly hiring young people who are better and sharper and more skilled in this area than prior generations because these are new technologies”, said Citi’s CEO for Asia Pacific Stephen Bird.

The cybersecurity threat is real. Standard Chartered found itself in the cross hairs of Singapore’s regulator last year when bank statements belonging to 647 private wealth clients were stolen from a server at its printing company Fuji Xerox. While there were no breaches in the bank’s infrastructure, all the same, the UK-headquartered bank was still held liable. Singapore’s regulator Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) last year said it took “supervisory actions” against Standard Chartered but did not disclose the details of its actions. View more