SEC Says Financial System's Biggest Risk Is Cybersecurity

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Mary Jo White said the global financial system faces the biggest risk from cybersecurity, according to Reuters.

The comments from White come after an $81 million cyber theft from the Bangladesh central bank, channeled through SWIFT.

The SEC has found "some major exchanges, dark pools and clearing houses did not have cyber policies in place that matched the sort of risks they faced," White told Reuters at the Financial Regulation Summit in Washington, D.C.

Related Link: Global Lenders On Alert Following Bangladesh, Vietnam Bank Hack

"What we found, as a general matter so far, is a lot of preparedness, a lot of awareness but also their policies and procedures are not tailored to their particular risks," she said. "As we go out there now, we are pointing that out."

White lamented, "We can't do enough in this sector."

Reuters commented, "Cyber security experts said her (White's) remarks represented the SEC's strongest warning to date of the threat posed by hackers."

The SEC, which regulates securities market, has launched an initiative called "broken windows" under White, "to crack down on small violations of SEC rules."