1. Everyone is waiting for 25th May

“ This is the day that the General Data Protection Regulation( GDPR) comes into force. Most firms have taken time to understand what GDPR may mean for them, and in many cases have reviewed( or even partially disposed of) their holdings of personal data. It is far harder to predict quite how sanctions under GDPR will be applied by the various regulators. We can expect a few high-profile examples to be made early on, but perhaps not the tsunami some expect. Nevertheless, privacy rights are on the agenda.

2. Criminals will hunt out the weak points

“ Organised crime groups will be increasingly creative on monetising stolen information and accessing systems. We can expect more attempts to initiate fraudulent payment transactions( often with social engineering elements), as well as ongoing interest in our core financial infrastructure including payment and trading platform gateways.

3. Governments will continue to block and tackle cybercrime

“ As criminals industrialise cyber-attacks using crime as a service model to rent attack tools and ransomware, governments are increasingly looking for ways to disrupt the infrastructure used by criminals. Closer links with telcos and service providers are being built along with the operational processes needs to block sites hosting malware, detect and counter phishing attacks. Community measures linked to improved intelligence sharing will start to make a difference.”

Security can no longer engage at the end of development cycles

4. A new model of cyber security will emerge

“ As firms invest more in cloud computing, a new model for cyber security is emerging. Increasingly, firms can look to cloud providers to embed good IT security, but firms still own the problem of setting their requirements and determining just who can access what. Security can no longer engage at the end of development cycles, and if it does, it risks being seen as a blocker rather than an enabler.”

5. Automation of controls and compliance will be the order of the day

“ Firms are coming under pressure to contain their burgeoning cyber security budgets. Manpower intensive compliance processes are beginning to give way to continuous testing and controls monitoring, helping firms build a more accurate picture of their IT estate – helping the CIO as well as the CISO. The growing demand for supply chain security and third-party assurance will also lead to a burgeoning industry of testing firms offering risk scoring and testing services for those third parties.”

6. Digital channels will demand customer centric security

“ Digital channels are becoming more and more sophisticated demanding new consumer identity and access management approaches, dynamic transaction risk scoring and fraud controls, and an emphasis on usable non-intrusive security measures which don’ t impact the consumer’ s experience. Open Banking and the arrival of Payment Services Directive 2 will drive richer interactions between a new ecosystem of payment service providers and the banks who handle our money.

7. The internet of insecure things continues

“ Criminal groups continue to exploit insecure‘ internet of things’ devices as sources of attack traffic for denial of service attacks, leading to more and more extortion attacks but also an increasingly sophisticated response from the international community involving telcos, content delivery networks and Distributed Denial of Service( DDoS) mitigation firms. Unfortunately, this response won’ t be consistent globally, and many nations may find themselves vulnerable to these attacks which will cause major disruption in 2018.”

8. The shadow of state activity lengthens

“ As countries invest to develop their cyber espionage and offensive capabilities, we will see more signs of their activities. Disclosures of high end techniques used by nations will continue, fuelling the opportunistic re-purposing of these vulnerabilities by less

sophisticated states and organised crime groups. Expect more evidence of industrial control system attack tools being tested as states explore the potential of this new form of warfare.”

9. Resilience and speed matters

“ Regulators are focussing on resilience – the ability of an organisation to anticipate, absorb and adapt to disruptive events – whether cyber-attack, technology failure, physical events or collapse of a key supplier. Exercises and playbooks are in fashion as firms try to build the muscle memory they need to respond to a cyber-attack quickly and confidently, while cyber insurance is finding its place not just as a means of cost reimbursement but as a channel for access to specialist support in a crisis.”

KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing audit, tax, and advisory services.

Research from the Federation of Small Businesses has shown that the impact of late payments on SME’ s and the self-employed is crushing. The research has shown that the issue causes more than 35 % of small businesses to run into cashflow difficulties

while more than 30 % have been forced to use their overdraft facilities.

At the more extreme end of situations, cashflow issues can and do cause businesses to fail. The FSB estimates that this single issue has caused more than 50,000 businesses to close annually.

Despite most small businesses being savvy about cashflow, the majority of late payments( 84 %) to small businesses and the self-employed are more than two weeks late, with an average delay of about six weeks. It’ s worth being aware that large businesses

are the most likely to pay late – 61 % of late payments are from large, private firms.

Regency Factors, one of the UK’ s oldest and most established independent invoice finance companies, has found that late payments have caused its

able to support clients through hard times

clients to use its facilities on an increasing basis.

A spokesperson said:“ We have been able to support

clients through hard times, allowing them to concentrate on their business, not just their cashflow as clients know that they will receive payments for their invoices immediately, allowing growth.”

www. regencyfactors. co. uk