US Treasury and MAS complete cross-border cybersecurity exercise

The US Treasury and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have conducted a cross-border cybersecurity exercise.

The initiative tested existing protocols around information exchange and incident response coordination for cyber incidents involving banks in both jurisdictions.

As financial services-targeted cyber threats are on the rise, and the financial ecosystems of the US and Singapore are significantly interconnected, cross-border cooperation and coordination are essential when it comes to cyber incident responses and recovery, the Treasury says.

The exercise took place between 25 and 27 April 2023, and follows the memorandum of understanding on cybersecurity cooperation signed between the two organisations in August 2021.

Following the exercise, the Treasury and MAS are exploring potential enhancements to cybersecurity protocols and collaboration efforts and considering the involvement of other international partners in future tests, the Treasury reports.

Todd Conklin, deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection at the Treasury, says: “This exercise is a significant step forward for the cyber partnership between the United States and Singapore.

“Every day we are reminded that cyber threats cross all national borders as there has been an exponential growth in threat actor activities. We must have a coordinated international response to the increase in threats, as the interconnectedness of our financial systems makes us only as strong as our weakest endpoints.”

Vincent Loy, assistant managing director at MAS, comments: “As the United States and Singapore are major international financial hubs where a number of global systemically important banks operate, the cyber resiliency of these institutions in the respective countries has systemic implications on financial stability globally.

“The exercise is a key milestone in Treasury and MAS’ continued and close cooperation to strengthen our collective cybersecurity preparedness, and to safeguard financial stability.”