Over the last couple of weeks we have seen a raft of announcements as the UK steps up to the growing challenge of cyber security. Earlier this week the British Bankers' Association announced that it will be teaming up with more than a dozen government and law enforcement agencies to create a new platform that will help equip banks to pick up on early signs of cyber threats. The following day, in the US, Soltra launched a similar initiative.
Paul Glass, senior associate at Taylor Wessing comments that the steps made both here at home and across the pond in the US represent a significant step forward in our protection against cyber threats, grasping the opportunity to now share data in real time which can significantly help protect banks and other financial infrastructures.
"Cyber-crime is a constantly increasing problem for banks. The attack on JP Morgan Chase and other banks at the end of August was a high-profile reminder of the problem, and large international banks experience cyber-attacks on almost a daily basis.
"The ability to share and interpret information about cyber-attacks as quickly as possible is critical to effective response. To date, this has been fragmented and piecemeal. The announcements this week of the formation of the Financial Crime Alerts Service in the UK and the Soltra system in the US should represent a significant step forward in sharing and utilising information in real time to protect banks and critical infrastructure from cyber-crime. There is however a possibility that this becomes an opportunity missed if FCAS and Soltra do not share information. The separate initiatives are certainly a step forward, but if they share information with each other in real time, that could be two or even three steps forward in the fight against cyber-crime."
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