Cybercriminals beware: you’re in the crosshairs

Major financial infrastructure firms in Europe are teaming up with law enforcement in an effort to combat cybersecurity threats.

A collection of central banks, clearing houses, stock exchanges, payment systems and law enforcement agencies announced the launch of an initiative designed to help protect the financial system by preventing, detecting and responding to cyberattacks.

The so-called Cyber Information and Intelligence Sharing Initiative aims to facilitate information sharing between financial infrastructure firms and raise awareness of cyber threats.

“This is the first time that major financial infrastructures, Europol and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity have jointly taken steps against cyber risk,” said Fabio Panetta, a member of the European Central Bank (ECB) executive board, in a statement.

The ECB plans to publish the initiative’s framework in the coming months to encourage other jurisdictions to take similar steps.

“We hope this will be an inspiring model for other jurisdictions to tackle one of the biggest threats of our time. Cybercriminals are increasingly stealing money, and therefore sharing information will help us to prevent attacks and ultimately protect people’s money,” Panetta said.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.