Concerns grow over cyberattacks targeting FIs.
Almost six of 10 respondents believe it is "likely" the U.S. will suffer a massive critical infrastructure disruption within two years and 26% worry about a financial sector cyberattack.
Those are among the results of an ESET survey of 1,500 Americans, conducted online via Google Surveys from October 8 to October 11, 2018, to find out what they think about CI attacks and cyber threats.
The financial/banking industry is their top concern when it comes to cyberattacks. The study found that Americans are most worried about a cyberattack disrupting the financial/banking system, more than attacks against hospital/emergency services, voting systems, or power grid/energy supply companies.
"Despite the news headlines and concerted efforts to provide education and awareness across the country, many people are still not aware of the risks that cyberattacks pose," the survey reported.
In 2017, ESET published its discovery of Industroyer, the malware that caused a power outage in the Ukrainian capital city of Kiev. Dragonfly malware was found lurking across U.S. power grid companies (although it has not caused any damage, it had the ability to). Fifty percent of respondents said they were not aware that hackers caused citywide blackouts in some countries due to a cyberattack. Prior to both of these incidents, Stuxnet malware infiltrated Iranian centrifuges; and WannaCry, a massive ransomware attack affected the UK's National Health System, FedEx, and Deutsche Bahn, among numerous other victims.
While some Americans seem to be skeptical about the transparency and availability of information on what causes energy grid disruptions, nearly 40% of respondents indicated they believe there has been a cyberattack in the U.S. causing a blackout, but was just not made public.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Roy Urrico
Roy W. Urrico specializes in articles about financial technology and services for Credit Union Times, as well as ghostwriting, copywriting, and case studies. Also: writer/editor of a semi-annual newsletter for Association for Financial Technology since 1997 and history projects funded by the U.S Interior Department, National Park Service and Warren County (N.Y.).
