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Corporate Treasury Departments Focus on Cyber Security

[December 10, 2014]

Corporate Treasury Departments Focus on Cyber Security

Treasury departments at large U.S. companies rank IT security as their top priority for 2015 - ahead of such critical issues as cost management and regulatory/compliance challenges.

These findings come from the results of the Greenwich Associates 2014 U.S. Large Corporate Finance Study, for which the firm interviewed CFOs or treasury department representatives at more than 500 large U.S. companies. The study results suggest that U.S. companies are taking action to address security concerns and other IT issues with 63% of the participants saying their treasury departments will increase technology spending in the year ahead.

"Cyber threats pose a real risk to business profitability, which is why corporate treasurers have made IT security their top area of focus," says Greenwich Associates consultant Marc Harrison.

As part of its research, Greenwich Associates compiled a list of the most common IT vulnerabilities companies should be looking to address with these new investments:


Weak Authentication		Non-complex passwords without additional authentication factors are easily bypassed
Unpatched Vulnerabilities		Hackers rely on known vulnerabilities in operating systems and other common software to gain entry and glean data
Malware		Trojans and other forms of malware can exfiltrate data, be used to access financial accounts, or create "bots"
Comprised Vendors		Vendors are targeted for their access to clients' systems, either directly or through products they provide
Social Engineering		Employees throughout the organization are at risk, as hackers utilize seemingly legitimate communications
Web Injection		Public-facing websites are compromised and misused to glean customer data or to deliver malware

"Within corporate treasury departments, there are specific steps companies should and must take in order to protect their own businesses and their customers' data," says Al Pascual Senior Analyst of Security, Risk and Fraud at Javelin Strategy & Research.

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