The Global Cyber Threat to Financial Systems

The article, "The Global Cyber Threat," published in Finance & Development for the IMF in early 2021 by T. Maurer and A. Nelson, describes the growing threat environment in financial markets stemming from the growing dependence on technology in the financial world and the increase in malicious actors and activity - both from criminal and terrorist sources, but also state-sponsored. There is recognition that something needs to be done at an international level but there is an issue in terms of knowing who should take the lead ie. a clear responsibility gap. The article goes on to introduce work carried out by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on creating an international strategy for better protection of the global financial system, including the creation of an international mechanism to build cybersecurity capacity in the financial sector, although it is dearly needed across all sectors.