Switzerland is bolstering defenses against a potential digital attack on its flagship private banking sector.
The Swiss government on Friday accepted a raft of recommendations to beef up cyber security for the alpine nation's banks and wider financial sector. The move follows an advisory review last year which identified gaps in digital security, and laid out a remedial course.
The recommendations (in German) come shortly after U.S. banks have reportedly launched a doomsday shield dubbed «Sheltered Harbor» against a potentially debilitating cyberattack. A hack of American consumer credit agency Equifax, made public three months ago, compromised data of as many as 145 million Americans.
Government-Led
In Switzerland, where banking secrecy has been undermined by several major whistleblowing leaks including that of Herve Falciani at HSBC's Swiss private bank, there are few industry-wide initiatives.
Swiss banks and insurers, which also increasingly have cybersecurity and insuring against hacks on their minds, have poured millions into beefing up their defenses against risk from inside – whistleblowers – or outside, in the form of a cyberattack.
The Swiss government said it wants to know whether its emergency cyberattack response has taken Swiss finance adequately into account, and if government and industry can improve their cooperation on cybersecurity defenses.
Swiss Data Haven
«The results of the review should be incorporated in the 2018 to 2022 national strategy for the protection of Switzerland against cyber risks,» the government said. The finance industry and its partners should have access to the results of the review, the government said.
Because of its tradition of banking secrecy and data protection, Switzerland is fertile ground for cyber protection services. Payments service Swift reportedly has servers housed in Switzerland near the German border, and countless cybersecurity specialists like Israeli Cyverse have settled in the alpine nation.
