Regulators urge banks to share cyber threat info

Five of the country’s banking regulators urged financial institutions Monday to share cyber threat information with each other.

“Recent cyber attacks and widely reported pervasive vulnerabilities highlight the rapidly changing cyber risk landscape,” said a statement from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), which is composed of federal monetary regulators like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

“Financial institutions participating in information-sharing forums have improved their ability to identify attack tactics and successfully mitigate cyber attacks on their systems.”

{mosads}The call came with a cybersecurity report from the FFIEC, which sets uniform voluntary standards for financial institutions. The report was a months-long assessment of the cybersecurity capabilities of 500 financial institutions.

The report comes amid pressure from lawmakers and some regulators to heighten banks’ cybersecurity measures in the wake of a major breach at JPMorgan.

The Senate Banking Committee recently pressed the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for answers on the steps they were taking to mitigate banking cyberattacks.

New York’s banking supervisor is also threatening banks with more oversight if they don’t improve their cybersecurity.

Meanwhile, banks are increasingly fearful of getting hacked.

The FFIEC report didn’t judge the adequacy of banks cybersecurity overall, but did stress their responsibility to protect customer data.

“Financial institution management is expected to monitor and maintain sufficient awareness of cybersecurity threats and vulnerability information so they may evaluate risk and respond accordingly.”

Cyber threat information sharing has also become a focal point on the Hill in recent weeks, with several lawmakers calling it their No. 1 priority during the lame-duck session.