UPDATE: Russian PM calls for working out global cybersecurity rules

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MOSCOW, Jun 21 (PRIME) -- Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has called for elaborating worldwide rules of the provision of cybersecurity on Friday at the International Cybersecurity Congress.

“We need, and I think it is a no less crucial task as we have almost nothing done, to work out global standards of cybersecurity provision,” Medvedev said, adding that Russia annually registers tens of millions of cyberattacks against state and private resources, the same as other countries.

Digitalization, a soaring rise of technologies, and innovative achievements convey risks and threats, he also said.

“According to analyst calculations, losses of the world economy from cyberattacks alone could grow to U.S. $2.5 trillion this year,” Medvedev said, adding that the figure is equal to a total gross domestic product of all African countries expected in 2019.

A refusal of some countries to cooperate in cybersecurity is a weird and dangerous position, which pushes everyone on the roadside of international relations, he said. This is why global standards of the provision of security in this industry should be elaborated, “moreover, crimes committed via the Internet, as banal as it is, have no boundaries,” he said.

Russia is ready to share its knowledge and expertise in the provision of cybersecurity, Medvedev added.

“We’re ready for cooperation, ready to share knowledge, accumulated expertise in the cybersecurity industry and certainly speak for an equal and fair world order in the digital sphere.”

All benefits of digitalization will be zeroed without protection against cyberthreats, he added. A decision was made to work out rules to protect digital and financial industries from hackers.

Central bank’s opinion

Central Bank Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina said that the regulator has found breaches of cybersecurity requirements in all 75 banks it checked in 2019.

“Starting from last year, the central bank as a regulator has been authorized to control financial institutions from the point of view of their respect for cybersecurity requirements. Last year we monitored 58 banks and 75 this year. All of them revealed problems, violations, not crucial but potentially serious if the financial institutions neglect the issue,” Nabiullina said.

The level of attacks on the country’s financial sector jumped 30% in 2018, but financial institutions underestimate cyber risks.

“The figures in the financial sector, for example, demonstrate good dynamics. Yes, the level of attacks rose 30% last year, but the losses declared by financial institutions are two thousandths of 1%,” the central banker said.

“It’s much lower than we’ve set, much lower than those of the payment systems, this is why there is a faulty impression that the risk is exaggerated.”

Nabiullina said local financial institutions have not learnt to manage cyber risks. “I think there is a sense of risk because we do not understand this risk clearly enough,” she said, calling on the heads of companies and financial institutions to grasp it.

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