Cybersecurity - Are you ready?

While cybersecurity threats are an ongoing and immediate concern, the approach to cybersecurity has traditionally been more reactive than proactive. Rather than treating cybersecurity as an IT-specific consideration, modern day threats must be approached proactively and holistically.

Since 2014, attacks have grown more sophisticated and the estimated cost of cybercrime to the global economy has increased from USD 150 billion to USD 600 billion.¹ By partnering with some of the top institutions and academics in the field, RBC continues to improve its cyber strategy, while also creating a more secure online environment for others.

Understanding the threat landscape

Cybersecurity threats come in many different forms and can originate from a wide variety of sources. In his presentation at RBC Investor & Treasury Services' recent Investor Forum in Toronto,² Kory Fong, Head of RBC's Cybersecurity Lab, explained that the most sophisticated attacks stem from "advanced persistent threats," which can typically be traced back to organized crime, or other unscrupulous groups.

Other threats include what Fong describes as "opportunists" who take advantage of known gaps in security infrastructure, and "malicious insiders" who turn against the organization that granted them access, such as Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden.

“Whenever you have a security breach it can impact you financially but your brand and reputation is also at risk," explained Fong. “For a financial institution, a brand impact can be devastating, because we work hard to earn our clients' trust in the way we manage and safeguard their assets."

Reversing the traditional approach

While the traditional approach to cybersecurity has often been reactive, Fong says that today's increasingly sophisticated and growing threat landscape requires a proactive approach. “There appears to be a general lack of security awareness," he said. “A lot of people are likely familiar with the Equifax breach and the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica issue, but many don't take it seriously until it directly affects them."

Today's increasingly sophisticated and growing threat landscape requires a proactive approach

Fong explains that RBC's Cybersecurity Lab was designed to enable the bank to adopt a more proactive strategy. Rather than relying on vendors, the organization is partnering with leading academic experts to build its own cybersecurity infrastructure.

“Working with these academic institutions, getting cutting edge ideas and crafting them into products that work for us is a much better and more cost-effective paradigm," he said. “We have empirical evidence and academic proof that this is the right approach."

Partnering with industry leaders

Fong explains that the RBC Cybersecurity Lab has partnered with some of Canada's top institutions in the cybersecurity space to help develop innovative new solutions and approaches. “We're collaborating with world-class institutions," he said.

Those partners include the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo. “We identify professors who are working on research that directly impacts some of the problems that we have, and those that may be industry-wide, so we can solve these issues and demonstrate that we are leaders in this space," he said.

Working together with these partners, Fong says that the RBC Cybersecurity Lab is helping to solve some of today's most pressing security issues and addressing threats that could be on the horizon. For example, with the help of the University of Waterloo's Institute of Quantum Computing, the Lab is tackling issues that could arise when quantum computing becomes widely available in the future.

“Even though quantum computers aren't readily available right now, once they are we want to be as ready as we can," said Fong.

The RBC Cybersecurity Lab is helping to solve some of today's most pressing security issues

Sharing solutions and best practices externally

Instead of keeping these innovations well guarded, Fong says the RBC Cybersecurity Lab's mandate is to share solutions and best practices with the financial services industry. “If we solve some security problem for RBC, that's great for RBC, but that's not where we want to have an advantage," he said. “We want people's information to be secure, and raising the bar on security externally is something that benefits us all."

Though the threats are real and becoming increasingly sophisticated, RBC is taking a proactive approach to protect itself and others. By sharing cutting-edge solutions and best practices gained by partnering with world-leading academic institutions, the bank can help promote a safer cybersecurity landscape for the wider financial services industry.