New York Banks to Be Quizzed on Cybersecurity

About 200 banks next month will be required to participate in a cybersecurity test conducted by the New York State Department of Financial Services, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

The banks the department supervises-mainly community banks based in New York and branches of large foreign banks-will answer questions about their cybersecurity policies and processes during a live webcast scheduled for December 12, according to the Journal:

All the banks will be asked the questions simultaneously via a webcast. Banks will answer yes or no, and later will be able to see how they stack up against their peers. A person familiar with the matter described the competition as "kind of cybersecurity academic decathlon," the aim of which is to "foster a race to the top on these measures."

The results could scare or shame banks into beefing up their cybersecurity measures-although responses will be anonymous to encourage full disclosure from banks that might be wary of looking worse than competitors.

The event bears a resemblance to the "Quantum Dawn" cyberattack simulation exercises the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has run with the largest New York banks, most recently in July. Twice, the trade group has staged a fake attack and gauged banks' communication response to it.