The governor of New York State, Andrew Cuomo, announced Thursday comprehensive new cyber security regulations for the financial service industry, in an effort to improve cyber resilience within the financial sector and keep customer data safe.
The process of coming up with these new regulations has been ongoing, starting back in 2014, and was recently delayed in December after the banks complained they needed more time to comply. The regulation will now come into force on March 1, 2017.
This new regulation is designed to identify the minimum security standards that financial firms must meet and encourage firms moving forward to stay up to date with cyber threats and trends.
These include standards for access controls, data protection, encryption, pen testing, incident response plans, and the preservation of data to help with investigations.
In addition, firms will now be required to maintain a cyber security program that is adequately funded and staffed, overseen by qualified management, and must periodically report to the most senior governing body of the organization.
This regulation also highlights accountability within organizations, now requiring firms to maintain “identification & documentation of material deficiencies, remediation plans, and annual certifications of regulatory compliance to the Department of Financial Services (DFS).” Click here to learn more about SOX Compliance.
Firms will now be required to notify the DFS of any “material events” and examine security procedures at third party providers, which has historically been the Achilles heel within organizations. In fact, a DFS poll conducted back in 2015 found that only a third of firms mandate their partners to notify them of any breaches.
Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, claims, “DFS’s cybersecurity regulation will be a crucial tool in the ongoing battle against cybercrime and identify theft by mandating that New York’s financial services industries adopt and pit in place robust and appropriate controls to detect, thwart and report cyber incidents.”
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