Research proposal sample

CYBERSECURITY THREATS AND MITIGATION STRATEGIES ON PERFORMANCE OF FINANCIAL SECTOR?

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

1.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the background of the study, problem statement, purpose of the study, research questions, study scope, and significance of the study.

1.1 Background of the study

Cyber attacks have evolved with the computer industry, in the modern computer error it can be observed from the start of “creeper worm” which is the earliest form of computer virus and in March 26, 1999 Melisa virus which was mailing macro virus (Kraken, 2019).

were reported to police countywide, bringing a 5 billion loss.

1.2 Problem statement

of financial sector..

1.3 Objectives of the study

1. To examine the influence of external threats on the mitigation strategies on the performance of financial sector

1.4 Research Questions

1. What is the influence of external threats , data protection on the mitigation strategies on the performance of financial sector?
2. What is the influence of internal threats on the mitigation strategies on the performance of financial sector?

• What is the relationship between user technical awareness on the mitigation strategies on the performance of financial sector?

1.5 Scope of the study

This section will include the content, time and geographical scope;

1.5.1 Content scope

The contents of the study will include; the influence of external threats on the mitigation strategies on the performance of financial sector, the influence of internal threats on the mitigation strategies on the performance of financial sector and the relationship between user technical awareness on the mitigation strategies on the performance of financial sector.

1.5.2 Geographical scope

The study will provide information to the future managers on the relationship between user technical awareness on vulnerability of the banking sector

Conceptual Frame Work

Cybersecurity Challenges (I.V)                    performance of financial sector (DV)

Mitigation strategies

NB: I have not gone beyond here. Please first work on chapter one to my satisfaction then we shall go to chapter two.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 External threats in the banking sector

The rise on the use of information technology in banking industry has exposed the financial institutions to different levels of cyber attacks  , this is because it has opened opened new methods of security breaches. Every advancement has brought new challenges into the financial landscape (Gulyas,  & Kiss, 2023).

New technologies, such as cloud computing or mobile banking, have to face expansive attack attempts from different agents on many levels (Hasan, & Al-Ramadan, 2021). The attackers target vulnerabilities that can be exploited to steal customer data, this therefore indicates that it is important for banks to constantly adopt new security cyber strategies to ensure the security of their customers, their assets, and their data (Berdyugin, & Revenkov, P2019).

Since the introduction of Automatic teller cards (ATM) there are many online credit card frauds which are  made when a customer use their credit card or debit card for any online payment , during this transactions normally hackers get information from the ATM cards and are able to manipulate the system and get the password of the client and misuse of it for online purchase for which the customers card used after the hackers have access to the clients’ card number and password, they impersonate the credit card owner when electronic transactions are not secured (Omotosho et al., 2023).

Cyber attacks like phishing attacks are a social engineering technique that cyber criminals employ to influence a customer of a financial institution to reveal personal information, such as an email address, username, password, or financial information after this information is then used by the attacker to the disadvantage of the victim (Alabdan, 2020).

Internal cyber threats on the vulnerability of the banking sector

Banking industry mainly in developing countries are  prone to high risks orchestrated by use sometimes  of outdated software that is vulnerable to hackers, therefore reducing the risk of these attacks requires organizations to be in position to update their organization softwire’s to one which is difficult to the hackers to compromise (Alzoubi et al., 2022). The hackers and other cyber criminals can exploit the gaps in the software which are not updated and to the standard and cause a substantial financial loss for example, Bangladesh’s central bank succumbed to SWIFT hackers in 2016 and lost US$81 million (Gladstone, 2016) and relatedl;y the many cyber attacks in the south Korean financial networks for several days in 2013 (Schwartz, 2013).

Use of out-dated computer hardware’s , which can be easily compromised , more to that these old hardware’s are not  compatible with the new existing software’s that could have the ability to prevent hacking (Alhayani, Abbas, Khutar, & Mohammed, 2021), This can lead to errors, crashes, slowdowns, or even data loss, The integrity of information systems and data could be threatened due to errors and omissions, which is usually occurring during the capture of data (Morrison, Coventry, & Briggs, 2020).

Lack of a well comprehensive policies regarding online transactions by the bank, Cybersecurity risk occurs because banks and other financial institutions are often unable to ensure an appropriate set of tools, technologies, training, and best practices to protect networks, devices, programs, and data from unauthorized access, some of the activities like online payments banks need to have a good policy frame work on how it is supposed to be performed.

The use of software that have do not have strong verification capabilities exposes banks to cyber criminals , software which are vulnerable to viruses like a ransomware attack , this exposes the financial institution to cyber criminals for example in the USA in 2020, a DDoS attack on a network provider that forced the New Zealand Stock Exchange to shut down operations in 2020, and a data breach on the online stock trading platform Robinhood in 2021 where the personal information of 7 million customers was accessed by a cybercriminal.

User  technical awareness on vulnerability of the banking sector

Some times employees in the organization with no technical skills may cause data breaches something that could expose the financial institution at risk of cyber attacks , like for examples a former employee of wells and fargo on December 31, 2021, e-mailed files containing private information from Well’s Fargo’s servers, this kind of practice exposes the financial institution on to cyber criminals who after accessing a customer sensitive data are able to access their bank accounts (Ibrahimnur, 2023).

The data breaches in the financial industry are extremely high that even the health sector is far behind the findings from the Verizon’s data breach investigation report (DBIR) places the financial industry in the top five for the number of security incidents in 2021. Access to valuable data that can be used in fraud and other cyberattacks makes the financial industry a target for expensive and damaging data breaches (Sipayung, Yanti, & Setya, 2022 ).

Banks whether in developed or developing country are all under constant threat by ransomware infections, phishing schemes, and account takeover attacks. These threats can result in data breaches, interruption to operations, and costly remediation (Hassan et al., 2023).

Technical knowledge among employees is essential since in the modern error Knowledge has become one of the most highly valued commodities in the modern economy, the knowledge of employees in managing the sensitive information and also in using the computer systems very well are important in protecting the bank from cyber criminals (Oloko, 2024).

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the methodology which consists of the research design, area of study, study population, sample population and selection, sampling technique, data collection method, data quality control, data collection procedures and limitations of the study.

3.1 Research design

The study will use descriptive research design. The design will avail the researcher with comprehensive information about the research study as a way of getting solutions..

3.2 Area of the study

The study will be carried out at Head office of centenary bank, stanbic and pride microfinance banks.

3.2 Study population and sample size

The study will target, credit officers, management staff and top management in these banks.

3.3 Sampling techniques

The study will use simple random sampling technique to select respondents, while the purposive sampling technique will be used for selecting top management.

3.4 Data collection methods

Source of data will be from both primary and secondary sources.

3.5 Data Collection Instruments

The major instruments for data collection will be questionnaires and interview guide. The questionnaire will provide respondents with ample time to comprehend the questions raised and hence, they will be able to answer factually.

3.6 Data collection procedures

Upon receiving the University permission to carry out research, the area of study will be visited for purposes of familiarization.

3.7 Quality control of data instruments

The instrument will be taken to the supervisor to check its correctness there after pilot study will be carried out to find out if it measures what it is meant to for.