With FIs still reacting to last year’s series of cybersecurity attacks, during which hackers infiltrated banks via their connectivity to the SWIFT network, SWIFT has taken steps to help their FI partners strengthen defenses. In its latest move, the network is launching a new online portal that encourages information sharing and offers an easier way for entities to access cybersecurity guidance.
SWIFT announced its Information Sharing and Analysis Centre platform on Monday (May 15), saying it will be a platform that collects all of its Knowledge Base Tips into a single place. The Centre will enable users to more easily search for and access information, it said, and all future bulletins will be stored on the platform.
The information includes resources about malware details, Indicators of Compromise and information on cybercriminal Modus Operandi.
“Community-wide information sharing is a key focus of SWIFT’s Customer Security Programme,” said SWIFT Head of the CSP Stephen Gilderdale. “We assist the community by undertaking forensic investigations into attempted breaches of customers’ local infrastructure, and we share related intelligence back to the community in order to help prevent future incidences of compromise in customers’ local environments. We urge all SWIFT users to make use of the information provided via the SWIFT ISAC portal as part of their ongoing cyber risk management.”
SWIFT was forced to step up its cybersecurity support of members in its network following several 2016 attacks, the most notorious of which involved a multimillion dollar heist from the Bangladesh central bank. Since the events, some critics have said SWIFT hasn’t gone far enough to safeguard its partners.
“SWIFT was not watching for the launch of cyberattacks on its customers beyond the core network,” said Marcus Treacher, a SWIFT board member from 2010 to 2016, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal only weeks ago.
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