The United States Department of the Treasury and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) carried out a cross-border cybersecurity exercise from 25 to 27 April 2023. This exercise allowed both agencies to test and strengthen existing protocols for information exchange and incident response coordination for cyber incidents involving banks operating in both jurisdictions. Given the rising cyber threats targeting financial services, and the interconnectedness of financial ecosystems of the United States and Singapore, timely coordination and cooperation during a cyber incident with cross-border impact are essential in ensuring a swift response and effective recovery of the affected operations.
Todd Conklin, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection at Treasury, said, “This exercise is a significant step forward for the cyber partnership between the United States and Singapore, representing an effort to bolster cybersecurity cooperation and our ability to communicate in response to a significant cross-border incident. We must have a coordinated international response to the increase in threats, as the interconnectedness of our financial systems makes us only as strong as our weakest endpoints.”Vincent Loy, Assistant Managing Director (Technology), MAS, said, “As the United States and Singapore are major international financial hubs, the cyber resiliency of these institutions in the respective countries has systemic implications on financial stability globally.”
