Amina Yaqoob<\/p>\n
The banking sector\u2019s cyber-security concerns require immediate action from the international community. Awareness among financial institution human resources and end-consumers of financial products must be improved as the first line of defense<\/p>\n
In this era where technology plays a vital role in every field and helps organizations and some people are using it for bad things or we can say for crimes. One of the biggest threats is cyber security for financial institutions. This type of financial cybercrime embraces stealing information about payment cards, extortion, frauds related to having access financial accounts, identity scam in order to apply financial products etc. Then some other threats are cloud based cyber-attacks, social engineering, supply chain attacks and ransomware. Cyber-attacks have grown in complexity, potential for disruption and global reach in recent years.
\nOne major example from the recent past is the cyber-heist on Bangladesh Bank in 2016, which resulted in a loss of USD 81 million. Technology is becoming a fundamental aspect of financial institutions\u2019 business strategies and operations as they continue to use information technology to provide efficient and innovative services and products. As a result, it requires increased investment in cyber security architecture as well as a strong regulatory and supervisory environment to ensure the seamless operation of payment and settlement systems and maintain public trust. As the supervisor and regulator of the banking industry and payment systems, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has long been aware of the rising threat of cyber security risk and has been working closely with banks to ensure cyber readiness. In this context, the SBP has established the Framework for Risk Management in Financial Institutions\u2019 Outsourcing Arrangements, which addresses the risk posed by banks\u2019 reliance on third-party service providers294. The SBP has issued a detailed set of instructions on cyber-attack prevention, according to which banks must continually improve their cyber security controls, processes, and procedures in order to predict, resist, detect, and respond to cyber-attacks.
\nBanks must include cyber security controls as part of their Information Technology Risk Management Policies, as well as proper Standard Operating Procedures, to protect themselves from potential cyber threats. To ensure the security of payment cards in the country, the SBP has published Payment Card Security Regulations to assist card service providers (CSPs) in developing a card security framework in accordance with worldwide best practices. To protect consumers against frauds like as skimming296, the regulations mandate all cards to be issued in accordance with the Euro pay, MasterCard, and Visa (EMV) standard starting June 30, 2018.SBP has released Regulations for the Security of Internet Banking, which require banks to build a comprehensive internet banking security framework in order to protect the growing number of customers who use internet banking channels.
\nTo deal with these cyber security risk, Government of Pakistan should take more steps towards this issue some of them are taken i.e., The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act of 2016 increased the legal foundation for combating cybercrime. The legislation lays up a framework for investigating, prosecuting, and trying electronic crimes including cyber-attacks. On the institutional level, the Federal Investigation Agency has established a National Response Center for Cyber Crime (NR3C) to deal with technology-based crimes. Management of third-party risks (financial institutions should divide their networks to limit third-party access to vital assets, develop and assess information security for partners and other intermediaries, analyze and identify any network abnormalities, and include security best practices in service agreements to minimize such risks).
\nThere should be proper regular network assessment. Then another suggestion is there should be Employee training on cyber security (employees should be taught how to spot phishing emails. Penetration testing could also be used to assess the financial institution\u2019s cyber security readiness. Employees who fall victim to phishing scams must be taken for additional training).Use of newer versions of software (financial institutions must guarantee that their software is updated whenever a new version is published. It\u2019s because each upgrade includes improved cyber security features that prevent hackers from gaining access to personal information. Cyber attacks on organizations are less likely when all devices are up to date).
\nThe banking sector\u2019s cyber-security concerns require immediate action from the international community. Awareness among financial institution human resources and end-consumers of financial products must be improved as the first line of defense. Furthermore, authorities must work collaboratively alongside financial institutions to make sure that proper safeguards against cyber-attacks are in place. Because cyber-attacks are cross-border, international collaboration between nations, supervisory organizations, law enforcement agencies, and financial institutions is critical for managing and mitigating the risks associated with these cyber attacks.<\/p>\n
The writer belongs to Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto institute of science and technology (SZABIST)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Amina Yaqoob The banking sector\u2019s cyber-security concerns require immediate action from the international community. Awareness among financial institution human resources and end-consumers of financial products must be improved as the first line of defense In this era where technology plays a vital role in every field and helps organizations and some people are using it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[7594,7592,7593],"class_list":{"0":"post-262120","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-article","7":"tag-amina-yaqoob","8":"tag-cyber-security","9":"tag-financial-institutions"},"yoast_head":"\n