A new Aite Group report says cybercrime and malware are the toponline fraud threats financial institutions face today and they'llcontinue to top the list of threats over the next two to threeyears.

Of the 32 North American financial institutions interviewed forthe report, “Online Fraud Mitigation: Tools of the Trade,” 56% saidcybercrime and malware are the most powerful instigators ofonline fraud.

Meanwhile, 52% of the institutions also listed cybercrime andmalware as the most significant online fraud threats to emerge overthe next two to three years.

Mobile fraud is also a notable threat – 26% of respondentslisted it as the type of fraud that will cause the most pain overthe next two to three years, the Boston-based research firmsaid.

Aite Group Senior Analyst Julie Conroy McNelley, who authoredthe report, said credit unions must realize that implementing arobust fraud prevention strategy, though it may come with a steepprice tag, is a critical move given today's threats.

“The report highlights the fact that no institution is exemptfrom the threat landscape,” McNelley said. “It's important, notjust from a compliance standpoint but from a loss mitigation perspective,for credit unions to have a good understanding of the threats outthere.

“The challenge for credit unions will be making the businesscase to deploy the technology it takes to keep pace with the badguys. They'll need to take the long view for the business andrealize that with just one big corporate account takeover, theinstitution can be wiped out. So the risks are significant.”

Aite Group also found that financial institutions are combiningmultiple fraud mitigation strategies into a layered approach tocombat fraud.

Respondents rated behavior analytics, in which institutionsmonitor user sessions or web navigation techniques to pinpointsuspicious activities, and out-of-band authentication, a strategythat involves communication through a channel outside of the onebeing used to access the banking application, as two of the mosteffective strategies.