The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has come out with a new supervisory requirement for ‘authorized institutions’ (meaning banks regulated by the HKMA) to implement the Cybersecurity Fortification Initiative (CFI), an initiative to reduce the risk of cyber security attacks in the banking sector in Hong Kong. Alongside, the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Privacy Commissioner and the Monetary Authority of Singapore have also highlighted the importance of an appropriate level of vigilance and cohesive approach to the risks inherent in cyber attacks. The three-part approach to CFI consists of the following a Cyber Resilience Assessment Framework to ensure banks have comprehensive and consistent frameworks in place to combat cybersecurity, a Professional Development Program, consisting of a training and certification program designed to increase the number of qualified cyber security professionals and a Cyber Intelligence Sharing Platform designed to allow the banking sector to share cyber threat intelligence in order to better prepare for cyber attacks.
