BSP strengthens cybersecurity monitoring tools

To ensure the stability of the financial system, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is embracing stronger cybersecurity and digital financial oversight to support the digital transformation of all BSP (BSFI) supervised financial institutions.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has increased our dependence on technology and digital platforms. But this also forces the BSP to tighten oversight of cybersecurity, ”BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said in his regular“ GBED Talks ”press talk on Thursday.

Diokno also noted that the banking sector is catching up and they noticed an increase in spending on IT, technology and digitization ahead of the pandemic and they expect this to continue.

“Most (banks) invested heavily in cybersecurity controls and defenses (as) they recognized the value of cybersecurity in the overall security and robustness of their organizations,” Diokno said. “In fact, cyber spending increased by as much as 43 percent from 2018 to 2019 with investment in cybersecurity tools, security operations centers, intelligence, and cyber threat testing, among others.”

Diokno said that so far, the BSFIs are “steadfast” in countermeasures to combat cybercrime, such as implementing cyber awareness campaigns, tighter network controls, increased vigilance and situational awareness during the pandemic.

“This has significantly reduced the volume of cyber threats towards the end of the lockdown. Nonetheless, cyber threat actors continue to challenge BSFI cyber security defenses and controls, ”Diokno said. “BSFIs, therefore, must continue to monitor and anticipate these changing tactics through effective defense strategies and cyber response mechanisms.”

The BSP is enhancing its digital finance and cybersecurity supervision tools by adopting the Supervisory Assessment Framework or SAFr, which will allow calibrated and risk-focused supervision based on the business model of a BSP Supervised Financial Institution, he said. Diokno.

Other improvements to cybersecurity rules that lie ahead relate to digital banking, cloud computing, virtual asset service provider, and the cybersecurity maturity model. “These policies support the digital transformation of BSFIs while promoting strong cyber risk management,” Diokno said, and all of these oversight reforms are “fit for the New Economy.”

The BSP began its exploration of supervisory and regulatory technology (SupTech / RegTech) last year, such as Intelligent Atypical Detection (IDeA) and SupTech’s Advanced Engine for Risk-Based Compliance (ASTERisC).

IDeA uses data science techniques to automate the process of detecting anomalies in supervisory data, while ASTERisC is a unified SupTech / RegTech solution that will automate regulation.

“BSP also worked with academia on a one-year ‘Sentiment Analysis Big Data Project’ for banks; and the development of a ‘Banking System Resilience Index’ to aid banking supervision, ”Diokno said.