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Malta Bankers' Association annual conference to focus on Cyber Risk in banking industry

Malta, November 2019: The Malta Bankers' Association (MBA) is organising a half-day conference on Cyber Risk in the banking sector on the 29th November 2019, aimed at enhancing awareness on this current risk, with a view of improving its effective governance in credit institutions.

This event entitled "Cyber Risk in the Banking Industry - Addressing and mitigating threats" features a line-up of distinguished speakers from the Malta Bankers' Association, European Central Bank, Malta Financial Services Authority, Central Bank of Malta and the European Banking Federation, amongst others.

The conference targets key personnel within banks, namely board directors, CEOs, COOs, CIOs as well as officers in risk, compliance, security, internal audit and IT functions. However, firms from different sectors of the financial services' industry and other economic players would also benefit in view of the fact that such entities are exposed to continual cybercrime threats.

The conference will be held at the Corinthia Palace Hotel Ballroom in Attard on 29th November and starts at 08.00hrs and ends at 13.00hrs, followed by a networking lunch.

"The MBA conference is taking place against the backdrop of the fast pace in technological development in banking and the more intense digital agenda which have brought substantial benefits for banks themselves and their end-users, but at the same time opened new horizons of risk," said Karol Gabarretta, Secretary General of the MBA.

The increase in cyber-attacks has focused attention on the need to strengthen cybersecurity within institutions. The 2019 Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) Report published by Europol states that "the persistence and tenacity of a number of key threats" and the "complexity of countering cybercrime" is manifest in "a growing number of cases of complex attacks on banks by sophisticated cyber-crime gangs employing tactics to take control of a bank's internal network."

Moreover, the European Central Bank has been highlighting key operational risk drivers in the area of cyber risk for banks, specifically significant institutions under its oversight, such as loopholes in IT solutions, data integrity, cyber security and cybercrime and IT disruption. In its Risk Assessment for 2020, the ECB maintained this theme noting that "...continued digitalisation of financial services makes banks more vulnerable to cybercrime and operational IT deficiencies as the overall interconnectedness of banks with parties inside and outside the financial sector is deepening".

Never has the importance of information security governance been so high on banks' agendas and, equally, on those of the supervisory authorities.

For more information on this conference, visit maltabankers.org.
To register for the event, please email [email protected] or phone 21412210.