Financial sector continues to lead in continuity and infrastructure protection
Efforts include widespread adoption of continuity standards and participation in TopOff exercises; communications capabilities important focus after protecting consumer data
We know a man so suspicious of the financial industry’s critical infrastructure that he keeps all of his stock certificates in his desk drawer at home. He figures, if a terrorist attack destroys Wall Street, he’ll be the only person who can prove what he owns, perhaps immediately making this man of modest means one of the richest in the world. This is a bit paranoid, of course. Since 9/11, the financial industry has been a leader in business continuity planning, with a federal report calling it “considerably more resilient” than in the past.
In addition to safeguarding consumer information with remote data storage and various redundancies, the financial sector, making full use of the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Homeland Security (FSSCC) has worked hard to improve post-disaster communications capabilities. Among the various accomplishments cited in a recent FSSCC report:
[MICHAEL: BULLET POINTS BELOW]
1. Adoption of business continuity standards issued by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Securities and Exchange Commission
2. Participation in the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a private-sector group formed in 1999 to deliver integrated physical and cyber alert information to thousands of financial institutions. Direct membership increased last year by 200 percent.
3. Participation by FSSCC members in last year’s TopOff3 exercises.
4. Creation of FloridaFIRST, a partnership of public and private organizations formed to strengthen the sector’s resilience against hurricanes and other state-wide emergencies
-read more in this FSSCC report(.pdf)
