Banks urged to share information to stave off cyber risk

SWIFT said collaboration against cyber threats is "essential" and in some cases required under its terms and conditions.

"The security of our global financial community can only be ensured through a collaborative approach among SWIFT, its users, its central bank overseers and third party suppliers," SWIFT said. "SWIFT is fully committed to leading the community effort. To this end, it is essential that you share critical security information related to SWIFT with us."

"We specifically remind all users to respect their obligations to immediately inform SWIFT of any suspected fraudulent use of their institution’s SWIFT connectivity or related to SWIFT products and services. In such cases SWIFT may require certain diagnostic information from you as set out in our terms and conditions," it said.

"Your organisation’s role in this effort is critical. Incorporating these steps as part of your security protocol will allow SWIFT to better support your institution in solving any issues that may arise, to understand any patterns between cases, and to provide general advice and alerts to other users in order to protect them from similar cases," SWIFT said.

The financial network said information shared with it would be treated confidentially.

The statement was issued in the aftermath of a spate of cyber attacks against banks that are members of SWIFT. Earlier this month SWIFT warned banks face a threat from a new wave of malicious software (malware) that allows attackers to steal money. That warning followed an attack on Bangladesh Central Bank's computers in February which resulted in a theft of $81 million from the bank's account.

In its latest statement SWIFT said that it plans to improve its own security information sharing to help member banks address cyber threats.

"As a first step, we will be centralising all new and existing security information," SWIFT said. "We will update this … with relevant information, including any new customer malwares or other indicators of compromise (IOCs) supporting the same modus operandi we have seen in the previous cases. We recommend that you have your IT security team review this information today and on an ongoing basis."

"Going forward, all new and relevant information related to cyber incidents at customers’ institutions known to us will be posted … allowing your security team to have the most up to date information, which should enhance their ability to react and respond," it said.