BSP raises bar for cyberresilience

MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is further raising the bar for cyberdefense in the financial services industry to bolster the regulatory and supervisory environment for cybersecurity as more Filipinos are wary about fraud and scams.

The regulator is set to deploy the Advanced SupTech Engine for Risk-Based Compliance (ASTERisC*) among selected BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs).

ASTERisC* is a unified regulatory and supervisory technology (RegTech and SupTech) solution that streamlines and automates regulatory supervision, reporting, and compliance assessment of the cybersecurity risk management by banks and financial institutions.

As lead Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) covering all BSFIs, the central bank through the Financial Supervision Sector – Technology Risk and Innovation Department is set to issue the Financial Services Cyber Resilience Plan.

The plan would serve as the primary framework for policies and strategies to strengthen cyberdefense in the financial services industry.

According to the BSP, it continuously engages the banks, relevant government agencies, and industry associations for a cohesive and industry-wide approach to addressing emerging threats and risks, as well as enhancing cyber incident response, threat intelligence, and overall situational awareness in the country.

The BSP constantly reminds the public to practice cyberhygiene under its cyberawareness and digital literacy program themed, “#E-Safety is Everyone’s Responsibility.”

It is committed to ensuring the cyberresilience of the Philippine financial system to promote its sound