Chris Feeney, BPI executive vice president and president of BITS, delivered remarks today highlighting the current state of cybersecurity, the impact of ransomware attacks and other cybersecurity threats inflicting U.S. businesses. The presentation, delivered at the National Association of Wholesale Distributors 2022 Executive Summit, profiled financial industry best practices and recent responses by the Administration and regulatory agencies to address these threats. It also outlined key considerations for CEOs as they assess their readiness, strengthen their defenses and prepare and respond effectively when an incident occurs. These include:
- Committing to foundational cyber hygiene practices that include data encryption, backup and restoration, effective user authentication/multi-factor authentication, prioritized patching/software updates and frequent user training including username/password management and anti-phishing best practices;
- Assessing high-risk systems and the potential business impact of cyber risks to your company, including knowing and understanding the plan to address identified risks;
- Having a clear line of sight from front line operators and business leaders to executive management and making sure current level business impact assessments of cyber risks are well known;
- Developing and exercising a comprehensive cyber incident response plan, with periodic testing and prioritization of fixes for continuous improvement; and
- As part of the plan understand where you will require outside help (e.g., legal, forensic, etc.) and have a communications plan for reporting an incident and, when appropriate, informing customers, employees and third-party partners.
To download a copy of the presentation, please click here.
