The Bank of Canada on Thursday [May 18] said it is concerned that a major cyber attack on one part of the financial system could spread quickly and threaten overall financial stability.
In an annual review of Canada’s financial system, the central bank said a possible cyber attack has been a significant threat since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
“A successful cyber attack on one part of the financial system can quickly spread to other parts and threaten overall financial stability,” it said.
A serious incident could disrupt the delivery of services, cause significant damage to compromised institutions “and undermine public confidence in the financial system,” it added.
The bank said that ransomware attacks on critical or widely used third-party service providers remain a source of concern.
“This is particularly the case when the targeted supplier provides a critical service, such as telecommunications, to a large commercial bank or a prominent financial market infrastructure,” it said.
Given the scale of the threat, participants in the financial system must have strict response and recovery plans, it said.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren, editing by Steve Scherer)
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Cyber Canada
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