Modern Cyber Risk Is Breaking Longstanding Security Assumptions

Modern geopolitical tensions now extend well beyond traditional statecraft. They increasingly manifest through wiper malware attacks, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against critical organizations, and coordinated disinformation and influence operations designed to shape public perception in real time.

Even as active flashpoints evolve and direct confrontation fluctuates, organizations are left operating in a sustained environment of elevated cyber and systemic risk.

In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Teresa Walsh, CEO and Founder at Integrated Intelligence Solutions, and Tracy Goldberg, Director of Cybersecurity at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed how financial institutions can strengthen operational resilience and build more integrated cybersecurity strategies in response to this shifting threat landscape.

Perhaps most importantly, the direction of travel is clear: public and private sector coordination is no longer optional. It’s becoming foundational to how organizations anticipate, withstand, and recover from disruption.

The Changing Cyber-Risk Landscape

These capabilities are increasingly critical because the cybersecurity landscape has reached an inflection point. Ongoing geopolitical volatility has pushed cyber resilience to a top priority for most organizations.

Coordinated cyber-attack campaigns now often blend network intrusion, disruption, and disinformation, creating cascading impacts .

“When two nations are fighting against each other, one of the things they'll always go after is your communications system and probably your energy systems as well, because they’re trying to disrupt the other guy and make their lives harder,” Walsh said.

“If you're a private sector company, like a banker or some other type of company, you have to understand what you are going to do if you don't have access to the internet or if you don't have access to power to even turn your computers on,” she said.

There are many documented examples of how these tactics are used in modern conflicts, including cyber attacks against critical infrastructure, large-scale malware campaigns, and disruptive events.

These incidents can assume many forms. Disinformation and misinformation campaigns are especially prevalent during periods of instability, often used to create public confusion or shift narratives.

There have also been cases where nation-states, directly or indirectly, leverage fraudulent activity, including account takeovers or money-mule recruitment to launder funds. Increasingly, these operations are augmented or outsourced to third parties like hacktivist groups or cybercrime syndicates, which can operate independently or align with broader geopolitical objectives.

Withstanding Disruption

High impact cyber incidents have demonstrated how disruptive these types events can be . In some cases, enterprises have experienced widespread device outages, operational shutdowns, and recovery timelines extending over multiple weeks.

This begs the question for all organizations, especially financial institutions: Are they prepared to withstand a 30-day disruption—whether impacting their own operations or those of a critical third-party provider?

“Most of the time when we talk about disruption, even when your regulator talks about disruption, they're not talking in terms of 30 days,” Walsh said. “They're usually talking in terms of three hours or maybe a day or two. The concept of a 30-day disruption, that might completely wipe out a company, wipe out their entire profit, and wipe out their customer base and their reputation.”

While such scenarios may appear unlikely, ongoing geopolitical instability and the increasing sophistication of cyber threats makes it essential for organizations to plan for extended disruption.

Institutions must also look beyond their own operations. As reliance on third-party vendors grows—often across multiple jurisdictions—these relationships introduce additional systemic risk. For examp