Swiss government announces new initiative to counter increasing cyber threats against financial institutions.
Switzerland’s federal government announced the establishment of a financial sector cybersecurity association, aimed at increasing the cyber resilience of the country’s financial sector, in a statement released Tuesday.
Because «cyber incidents that damage the reputation of the Swiss financial center or that could lead to a severe financial crisis pose an increasing threat,» Swiss Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer pushed to establish the framework for coordination between the private sector and financial authorities.
Open to All
The result was the establishment of the Swiss Financial Sector Cybersecurity Centre (Swiss FS-CSC) in Zurich, which is open to all banks, insurance companies, and other entities that are registered in Switzerland and authorized by The Swiss Financial market supervisory authority (Finma). August Benz, Deputy CEO of the Swiss Bankers Association, will serve as president.
The association’s aim is to increase the cyber-resilience of the Swiss financial center by facilitating the exchange of information between financial market players and improving cooperation on sector-wide preventive measures and systemic crisis management. The more than 80 founding members include associations, banks, and insurance companies.
Among the institutions involved in founding the association were the National Cybersecurity Centre (NCSC), the State Secretariat for International Finance, the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA), SIX, the Swiss National Bank, the Swiss Insurance Association, and the Association of Foreign Banks in Switzerland. Finma will have an advisory role.
