Finance under the cyber lens, Codise and CertFin against threats

The financial system and its physical and immaterial infrastructures, given its growing digitalisation, is one of the sectors under scrutiny for cyber attacks which are potentially capable of delaying or blocking the payment system and undermining citizens' trust. Several times in recent months the supervisory authorities have highlighted the growing threat and increase in 'operational incidents' also with the use of new technologies such as AI.

On this, the ECB asked banks to indicate their exposure to the risks of attacks and detailed plans by last October, a communication extended by the Bank of Italy (expiring at the end of the year) also to smaller banks and other operators. Apart from the powers of the ECB in the field of supervision and obligations, which have become more stringent in recent months, and of the Bank of Italy, in our country there are two bodies that coordinate responses to crises: Codise and CertFin.

The first, born in 2003, is chaired by the Bank of Italy and Conosb and the most relevant financial sector operators participate. The structure aims to facilitate the exchange of information and the adoption of the necessary measures to deal with events that may put at risk the operational continuity of the system, the functioning of the financial infrastructures as well as public trust in money. One case in which it was activated was at the end of 2024 when the breakage of a cable in Switzerland sent the systems of the supplier Worldline into a tailspin, creating interruptions in credit and debit card payments in our country, both at the POS terminals and at the ATMs of various banking institutions. Codise also conducts exercises and develops resilience analyzes and scenarios.

CertFin, on the other hand, responds to a public-private collaboration model and has the aim of preventing and managing cyber threats. It is chaired by the Bank of Italy and the ABI, also involving Ivass, Ania and Consob and 80 operators in the sector. The body supports banks, insurance companies, market infrastructures and other financial operators "promoting the sharing of information, knowledge and operational experiences".

In the event of an event, as stated on its website, "it supports the technical and organizational structures of the organization involved, providing support in analysis activities, facilitating coordination between the actors involved and promoting, where necessary, the timely exchange of information with other members to prevent possible systemic impacts".