Global financial regulator says working from home fuels cyber attacks Reuters

Author: Hugh Jones

LONDON (Reuters)-The Financial Stability Board (FSB) said on Tuesday that the Financial Stability Board (FSB) said on Tuesday that financial companies may need to strengthen their defenses in the face of a surge of cyber attacks after employees start working from home.

The FSB, which is responsible for coordinating the financial rules of the G20 group of countries, said that since the economy entered a lockdown to fight COVID-19, remote work has opened up new possibilities for cyberattacks. Work from home (WFH) is expected to remain in some form throughout the financial services industry and other industries.

In a report to G20 ministers and the central bank, the FSB said: “Most cyber frameworks do not envision a near-universal scenario where remote work and cyber threat actors take advantage of this situation.”

For the first time, the report summarizes the lessons learned from the impact of the pandemic on financial stability.

The FSB stated that COVID-19 is the first major test of the stricter financial rules implemented after the 2008 global financial crisis, and most of the system has been well dealt with.

Blockade restrictions are being relaxed, but financial companies have told employees that they will be allowed to work permanently at home for a few days a week and work in the office the rest of the time.

According to the FSB, network activities such as phishing, malware, and ransomware have grown from less than 5,000 per week in February 2020 to more than 200,000 per week in late April 2021.

“Financial institutions are usually resilient, but they may need to consider adjusting cyber risk management processes, cyber incident reporting, response and recovery activities, and the management of key third-party service providers, such as cloud services,” FSB said. .

The FSB is chaired by Fed Vice Chairman Randal Quarles and is composed of regulators and central banks from major financial centers. It will release its final report in October, setting out its next steps.

It has already put forward proposals to strengthen the flexibility of money market funds, which have been under tremendous pressure during the market turmoil last year.

FSB WFH Graphics-https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/qzjpqxlknvx/FSBWFH%20Graphic.PNG