In an effort to provide banks a common, credible and efficient compliance approach to cybersecurity and assessment, the American Bankers Association (ABA) and other financial trade groups recently unveiled a new cybersecurity profile under the direction of the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council (FSSCC).
The profile was designed to complement the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework. It uses a questionnaire to identify a company’s risk and complexity, then pair it with an appropriate cybersecurity assessment. The framework is intended to cut down on time spent on compliance and reconciling competing, duplicative and redundant cybersecurity examinations by offering a tailored set of diagnostic assessment questions to reflect an institution’s risk to the broader economy.
“The industry took up the challenge to find a cybersecurity roadmap that works for both community banks and global banks,” ABA Vice President Denyette DePierro said in the release. “It’s an exciting moment and a new, innovative approach to regulation that could be applied to other areas of supervision and oversight.”
Council representatives stressed the potential safety and soundness risks presented by cybercriminals, which the new framework is designed to mitigate.
“There is no greater threat to financial stability than a large-scale cyber event, and robust public private partnerships are the most effective way to manage cyberthreats,” FSSCC Vice Chairman Tom Wagner said. “The financial services industry is constantly working to improve cyberdefenses, resiliency and recovery through massive monetary investment in technology and personnel, regular training, best practices development and industry tests. The cybersecurity profile is the latest example of our commitment to keeping our industry and our clients safe.”
In addition to ABA and FSSCC, the announcement also came on behalf of the Bank Policy Institute, the Global Financial Markets Association, the Institute of International Bankers, the Institute of International Finance and the Futures Industry Association.