Nearly 90% of executives in financial services firms experienced fraud last year and the same percentage reported at least one cyber security incident, research shows.
Kroll, a corporate investigator and risk consultant, said the number of executives experiencing fraud had increased 19% to 89% since 2015.
The firm also found that over half the executives reported security breaches in a survey of 545 senior executives worldwide.
Current and former employees were the most common perpetrators. Six out of ten respondents who worked for companies that suffered from fraud identified a combination of perpetrators that included current employees, former employees, and third parties and almost half said incidents involved all three of the above groups.
Junior staff were cited as key perpetrators in 39% of fraud cases, followed by senior or middle management (30%) and freelance or temporary employees (27%).
Former employees were also identified as responsible for 27% of incidents reported.
Forty-four per cent of respondents reported that insiders were the primary perpetrators of a cyber security incident, with former employees the most frequent source of risk.
The impact of these security incidents was that over two thirds of global executives in all industries said that the threat of fraud had dissuaded them from operating in particular regions or countries, and 63% reported refraining from certain business operations due to security risks.
Kroll said fraud, cyber, and security incidents are now the “new normal” for companies across the world, with cyber security breaches being the most common.
“The impact of such incidents is significant, with punitive effects on company revenues, business continuity, corporate reputation, customer satisfaction, and employee morale,” said Tommy Helsby, co-chairman of Kroll investigations and disputes.
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