Watchdog tells Australia’s finance sector to raise cyber defences

Australia’s financial sector must raise its game and strengthen its resilience against cyberattacks.

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chair John Lonsdale said a review of the sector’s cybersecurity has discovered inadequate oversight from institutions’ boards and a “lack of rigour” in testing security controls. He warned that the regulator is ready “to wield the stick and take enforcement action if necessary” if institutions fail to improve matters.

“There is a need to continuously raise the bar on cyber preparedness and resilience across banking, insurance and superannuation,” he told an Australian Financial Review summit.

• Australia’s 10 largest banks passed the regulator’s latest stress test, which considered how banks would respond to a deep recession in which house prices fell nationally by 43% over three years and offshore funding markets were temporarily shut.

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