Industry experts at the SmartBrief Cybersecurity Forum in New York City recently stated that collaboration between the financial services industry and government entities has increased to address rapidly changing cybersecurity threats, but both agree that there is still room for improvement.
Experts argued that two ways that collaboration can be expanded is through increased information sharing and the enactment of cybersecurity legislation that is currently making its way around Capitol Hill.
Karl Schimmeck, managing director of financial services operations for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, noted that public-private engagement has increased following President Obama’s cybersecurity initiatives. Additionally, Schimmeck referenced the NIST Framework as yet another tool the government has made available to help help industries and companies develop practices that can be put to use by all firms – both large and small.
Chris Feeney, president of the Financial Services Roundtable’s BITS technology policy division, noted that it would be very beneficial if the government could sync state cyber laws, while simultaneously enacting federal laws addressing privacy and liability concerns, which has dissuaded some firms from participating in information sharing.
Mark Clancy, the CEO of Soltra, said that he has seen the government take an increased role in information sharing as well as cybersecurity awareness for the private sector, citing the FBI’s recently released list of the top 10 cyber threats companies face.