Yesterday, the Bank of Namibia officially launched Namibia’s first Financial Industry Cybersecurity Council.
This council was created to devise tactical strategies to combat cyberfraud in the financial industry.
Leonie Dunn (central bank deputy governor) stated that the formation and launch the council were necessary due to the increased risk of data leaks, security breaches, hacks and other cyber-security threats.
“The Covid-19 pandemic’s emergence sparked the acceptance of the fourth Industrial Revolution, as seen in the rising use of digital payments that have become even more pervasive in Namibia’s financial sector,” she said.
She said that the council would provide a forum for the non-banking financial sector to have productive conversations and to develop tactical strategies to combat fraud within the industry.
It will also examine Secure Sockets Level security and phishing to ensure that cybersecurity issues in the financial industry are given the highest priority.
Other goals include improving cybersecurity maturity in institutions and the financial industry as a whole, by enabling leaders and information security professionals to share knowledge within and among firms.
The council is also charged with ensuring efficiency in cyber risk management, as institutions can use each other’s expertise.
The council will convene experts to have a structured dialogue about cutting-edge issues. They will also devise strategies to mitigate sector-wide vulnerabilities and threats.
Dunn highlighted that collaboration, collaboration and coordination would increase cybersecurity and secure individual institutions’ security, despite the fact the changing nature of cybersecurity might be seen as a danger.
“While this is a sector-based intervention, we welcome developments at a national level that are geared towards building resilience and capabilities in cybersecurity. The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology is currently developing a national cybersecurity plan. The draft cybercrime bill and the draft data protection bill are among the pieces of cybercrime-related legislation that the Namibian government is currently working on to complete.”
After the legislative framework is complete the sector-based intervention can be aligned to national one, she said.
Romeo Nel, director of bank supervision, explained that the bank established rules called the Determination of Information Security (DISA) in 2018 to address the need for adequate and suitable cybersecurity in the banking sector.
Also, a circular was issued to complement the Determination of Information Security. These efforts were aimed at the banking sector, but the Bank of Namibia realized the need for the entire financial sector to adopt a collaborative and consultative approach in order to effectively combat cybercrime.
The council includes heads of institutions and deputy governors, while the working groups include cyber and information security experts from financial sector regulatory agencies, critical financial market infrastructure and financial sector associations.
Source: namibian
