Garnet Capital Advisors Blog

Mobile threats are becoming among the more rampant means of stealing money among digitally-savvy thieves.

Cash smugglers are getting savvy these days. And with the advent of online banking technology, they are now seeking out mobile platforms from which to steal money.

In fact, mobile financial threats rank as one of the top 10 more popular means of stealing money, according to a study conducted by researchers at Kaspersky Lab.

Nearly 2 million mobile theft attempts were blocked by the lab in 2015, a number that's growing by the year. With an increasing number of consumers taking to their mobile devices to do their banking, this figure shouldn't be too surprising.

More than half of corporate computers were hacked in 2015, and nearly one-third of business PCs were at high risk of an online threat. Ransomware has expanded on Androids by 17 percent.

Cyber thieves are coming up with shrewd ways to develop malware for mobile devices. For starters, they're using new methods to make their mobile banking thefts more discreet to make it more challenging for authorities to detect any malicious code. To top it off, cybercriminals are also seeking ways to reduce the risk of criminal prosecution by using malicious adware aside from malware attacks.

With such a growing threat becoming more realistic for banks, it's no wonder that cyber attacks are increasingly posing a threat to these financial institutions. The numbers are growing, and the attacks are becoming more frequent and sophisticated. Hundreds of millions of dollars have already been lost as a result of breaches in security.

As such, the banking industry is undoubtedly taking measures to ward off these attacks. And the first thing on the agenda is getting better acquainted with cybersecurity. Bank regulators need to ramp up their pool of IT specialists in order to help financial institutions of all sizes better protect themselves. Banks that are inspected by higher-level IT examiners experienced improved cybersecurity positions.

Financial institutions also need to be more vigilant and on the defence when it comes to the onset of cyber attacks. Security situations warrant an immediate response in order to efficiently alleviate any financial loss from a cyber attack, and that means they need to be ready to react in an effective and timely fashion to minimize damage.


Banks are taking a number of steps to heighten security against mobile banking cyber attacks.

With mobile banking growing in popularity, banks have little choice than to heighten their mobile application security. Despite the fact that mobile malware is still in its infancy, there's little doubt that this threat will increase as mobile banking continues to increase in popularity.

The use of biometrics is also creeping into the world of banking, offering the industry heavy security when it comes to accessing sensitive financial data. Biometric authentication systems are being increasingly used by banks across the world, verifying users through such innovations as iris and fingertip ID. Such advances in biometric authentication technology are gradually shifting banking clients away from the use of passwords.

In fact, any growth in the banking industry will be sped up by the use of built-in biometric support in mobile devices. There continues to be an increasing eagerness among banks to implement more convenient and effective means to verify client identity, which is driving the ratification of biometrics in banking even more.

There's no doubt that plenty of attention needs to be focused on boosting security measures to ward off cyber attacks. But in the meantime, banks cannot afford to lose sight of the bread and butter of their business: keeping their loan portfolios beefed up.

With the Fed recently announcing an interest rate increase, now is as good a time as ever to re-evaluate balance sheets and loan portfolios to ensure the loans on the books are making the most money.

A close look at the loan portfolio by a seasoned expert in the world of loan sales and valuations will expose loans that should be sold off to make room for more profitable loan acquisitions. And Garnet Capital can do just that.

Register for our online portfolio auction system today to discover how Garnet Capital can ensure your bank's profitability throughout any type of financial environment.