Spotlight on cyber security at Bankers Day 2023 in Schlieren

Cyber attacks are no longer an abstract threat. In fact, they are increasing year by year, particularly in the financial sector. In the panel discussion at the Bankers Days, four experts – Florian Schütz of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Marco Wyrsch of Swisscom, Yves Zumwald of Swissgrid and Alexandra Arni of the SBA as well as Swiss FS-CSC– explained how an individual company cannot overcome a cyber incident like the distributed denial of Service (DDoS) attack on 15 June 2023 unaided these days.

Because the financial centre and Switzerland as a whole are dependent on a small number of infrastructure providers, it is vital for collaboration with these to function properly, with interdependencies and consequences clear for all. Success can only be achieved through a joint, institutionalised approach.

A great deal of progress has been made in this respect over the past 18 months. The Swiss FS-CSC is an association formed in 2022, now leads the way, pooling the resources of all its members. Banks, insurers, securities firms, SIX and the SNB work closely with the relevant authorities (the NCSC, FINMA and the State Secretariat for International Finance).