fraud (Image: Shutterstock)

The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) exam division is warning financial services businesses to immediately review their cybersecurity controls, as phishing and ransomware attacks are on the rise.

In a just-released risk alert, the agency's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) warns that while recent reports indicate that one or more threat actors have used phishing and ransomware measures to penetrate financial institution networks, OCIE "has observed ransomware attacks impacting service providers to registrants."

OCIE urged SEC registrants and other financial services market participants to monitor the cybersecurity alerts published by the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), including the updated alert published on June 30 relating to recent ransomware attacks.

OCIE encouraged registrants to share the updated CISA guidance with their third-party service providers, particularly with those that maintain client assets and records for registrants.

While the CISA alert highlights key mitigation strategies to reduce overall vulnerability, OCIE notes that because there's no "one size fits all" approach, OCIE provides its own observations to assist market participants on ways to enhance cybersecurity preparedness and operational resiliency.

|

See also:


|

From: ThinkAdvisor

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to Treasury & Risk, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited Treasury & Risk content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Thought leadership on regulatory changes, economic trends, corporate success stories, and tactical solutions for treasurers, CFOs, risk managers, controllers, and other finance professionals
  • Informative weekly newsletter featuring news, analysis, real-world case studies, and other critical content
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Melanie Waddell

Melanie is senior editor and Washington bureau chief of ThinkAdvisor. Her ThinkAdvisor coverage zeros in on how politics, policy, legislation and regulations affect the investment advisory space. Melanie’s coverage has been cited in various lawmakers’ reports, letters and bills, and in the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule in 2024. In 2019, Melanie received an Honorable Mention, Range of Work by a Single Author award from @Folio. Melanie joined Investment Advisor magazine as New York bureau chief in 2000. She has been a columnist since 2002. She started her career in Washington in 1994, covering financial issues at American Banker. Since 1997, Melanie has been covering investment-related issues, holding senior editorial positions at American Banker publications in both Washington and New York. Briefly, she was content chief for Internet Capital Group’s EFinancialWorld in New York and wrote freelance articles for Institutional Investor. Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Towson University. She interned at The Baltimore Sun and its suburban edition.