Former British intelligence head warns increasing cyber threat to finance sector

A former British intelligence officer warned on Wednesday that the financial sector is on the front line in the post-Cold War digital struggle against cyber crime.

"We have sold our souls to the Internet without really understanding what we're doing and without investing in a kind of security," said David Omand, who headed the Government Communications Headquarters, a British intelligence and security organization, in mid 1990s.

According to a survey of 2014, 43 percent of U.S. companies had experienced cyber breach. For Britain, 81 percent of large companies and 60 percent of small businesses reported cyber security breaches, Omand said at the Charted Institute for Securities & Investment.

"The UK survey reported that one in 10 SMEs was so badly damaged that they had to change the nature of their business," said Omand.

He warned that the cyber threats are likely to go up with the advent of the Internet of Things which involves intensive financial transaction between customers.

To protect the financial sector from cyber crime, Omand advised that the priority is to have adequate protection of personal information against misuse or attack.

The second thing is to make law enforcement keeping up with the trend of cyber crimes. "It's extremely difficult as the threat cross the border, the victims and the police are in different jurisdictions," said Omand.

The rapid development of the Internet has "left policy behind and government struggling to know how to manage the harms of the internet while preserving its power for good," said Omand.

"What we need is a new social contract between the government, the Internet industries and the citizens" that balances the needs of all three sides. Endi