It is worrying that almost six years after the $101 million cyber heist from the Bangladesh Bank’s account with the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, 52 per cent banks in the country are still at high risk as they do not have an effective cyber security system. Although the country’s banking sector has undergone a massive digital transformation over the recent years, spending for cyber security and IT training is very low, putting majority banks at risk of cyber attacks, says a BIBM study report.
The findings of the study were revealed at the two-day summit on cybercrimes that ended on Monday in Dhaka organised by the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB). The summit was informed that the banking sector faces a maximum of 630 cyber attacks every day and some 32 per cent of the banks are at moderate cyber risks, while only 12 per cent are at low risks. As cybercrime is on the rise in this age of digital banking, we must prepare ourselves to tackle the risk. We think a stronger collective response and knowledge-sharing are essential to face the increasing cyber threats.
Experts are of the opinion that most of the banks are yet to comply with the directive of the Bangladesh Bank over establishment of IT Governance and IT Security for all banks in the country. As per the directive, all the private and public banks should allocate a certain portion of annual income for ICT infrastructure development and manpower training. Only four out of 60 banks have set up cyber security operation centres (SOC) in line with the directive to prevent large-scale cybercrimes. Reportedly, the problem the banks are facing is the lack of skilled manpower to do the job.
Since a lack of skilled manpower is one of the main reasons for many banks’ failure to put the system in place, the government law enforcement agencies should help create skilled manpower in the banking sector through their IT security units. As we know, the police and RAB have strong wings to tackle cyber-attacks, so they can also play a positive role in improving the skills of the IT officials in banks.
As cybercrime is an emerging threat and no one is fully secure these days, emphasis should be given on how we can control cybercrimes with continuous monitoring and act accordingly. The government should formulate the right cyber laws that will make online transactions a safer choice for customers. Also there is a need to deploy special cyber security watchdogs and equip them with advanced technology.
