Descriptions
According to Fitch Ratings, cyberattacks on businesses and government agencies have increased following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and there is the risk of spillover cyberattacks against nonprimary targets becoming much more widespread. Heightened risk exists particularly for issuers conducting business in these countries or with their governments, as well as for entities or countries that impose sanctions or deemed to interfere.
Potential targets include critical infrastructure such as financial services, governments and utilities. The 2017 NotPetya attack is an example of a cyberattack that underscores the spillover risk to entities outside of Ukraine. That attack initially targeted Ukrainian government and financial entities but ultimately affected computer systems across the globe, costing billions of dollars in damages.
The current conflict amplifies the broader trend of increased volume, size and sophistication of attacks, with corresponding significant financial, reputational and legal risks to issuers. Corporate IT teams handled 623 million ransomware attacks in 2021, up 105% YoY, according to security vendor SonicWall. The firm reports an 1,885% increase in attacks on government targets, healthcare (755%), education (152%) and retail (21%). Issuers that focus on cyber resiliency, continual threat assessment and business continuity/disaster recovery while working with industry partners and segmenting their IT infrastructure to reduce cyber risks should be best prepared to mitigate the damage from potential attacks.
The purpose of this session is to explore the Russia-Ukraine conflict: Cyber threat landscape and Implications for Banks in Asia.
Some of the key questions that will be deliberated are:
What is the current cyber threat landscape?
How vulnerable are banks in Asia?
What measures should SEACEN members and banks in the region take to safeguard resilience of the financial system?
Moderator:
Mr. Mark McKenzie
Panellists:
Vivek Chudgar, VP, Mandiant Consulting
Maricris A. Salud, Deputy Director, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
