Security Alliance selected to support the first pan-European information and intelligence sharing initiative for financial infrastructure providers

• In an industry first, the largest financial infrastructures in Europe will share information to protect the European economy against cyber risks
• As a strategic intelligence partner, Security Alliance will deliver cyber threat intelligence advisory, analysis, integration and technology services

27th February 2020: In an industry first, a group of Europe’s largest and most important financial infrastructures, the Euro Cyber Resilience Board for pan-European Financial Infrastructures (ECRB), has launched a programme to share vital cybersecurity threat information to help protect European citizens and financial institutions from cybercriminals.

This marks the first time the largest pan-European financial infrastructures, in close liaison with Europol and the European Union Agency for Cyber Security (ENISA), have come together and agreed to share information and intelligence.

Members of the ECRB, established by the European Central Bank, has launched the Cyber Information and Intelligence Sharing Initiative (CIISI-EU) in recognition of the need to better prevent, detect and respond to cyber attacks and boost information sharing. It has selected Security Alliance, a cyber threat intelligence company, to be the intelligence partner for the programme, as part of a multi-year agreement. The company will deliver cyber threat intelligence advisory, analysis, and integration services, along with its ThreatMatch technology platform.

The ECRB consists of Europe’s largest and most important EU market infrastructures, including central banks, clearing houses, stock exchanges, payment systems providers and law enforcement agencies, among others.

The new CIISI-EU programme is intended to encourage technical information sharing and the creation of joint initiatives. Its core objectives are:

• To prevent, detect, respond and raise awareness of cybersecurity threats to ECRB members
• To enable relevant and actionable intelligence sharing between ECRB members, law enforcement and be potentially extendable to wider ecosystem
• To encourage active contribution and active participation within a trusted circle, rather than passive consumption or weak usage
• To synthesise and actively propagate the sharing of strategic intelligence in addition to operational tactics, techniques and procedures and tactical indicators of compromise
• To continuously learn and evolve, as a collective, with regard to the process of analysing, developing and sharing cybersecurity intelligence

Commenting on the programme, ECB Executive Board member and ECRB Chair Fabio Panetta said:

‍“This is the first time that major financial infrastructures, Europol and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) have jointly taken steps against cyber risk. We hope this will be an inspiring model for other jurisdictions to tackle one of the biggest threats of our time. Cybercriminals are increasingly stealing money, and therefore sharing information will help us to prevent attacks and ultimately protect people’s money.”

‍Rob Dartnall, CEO of Security Alliance, said:

‍“Security Alliance is proud to have been selected to support this world-leading initiative, driven by a collective force of innovators to protect the financial interests of European citizens from future cyber threats. This is truly ground-breaking work being undertaken by the ECRB and we are delighted to support their efforts over the coming years.”[1]

See ECB press release d.d. 27 February 2020 (https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2020/html/ecb.pr200227_1~062992656b.en.html)