IVASS and ANIA adhere to CERTFin, the highly specialized structure on cybersecurity set up by the Bank of Italy, ABI and the ABI Lab Consortium to strengthen collaboration against IT threats related to the development of new technologies and the digital economy, guaranteeing ever greater security of operators in the Italian banking, insurance and financial world and of the digital services offered to households, businesses and the public administration.
This is established by the agreement signed by the Governor of the Bank of Italy, Ignazio Visco, by the President of IVASS, Salvatore Rossi, by the Director General of ABI, Giovanni Sabatini, by the Director General of ANIA, Dario Focarelli and by the President of ABI Lab, Pierfrancesco Gaggi, supplementing the agreement signed at the end of 2016 to set up the CERTFin. The new agreement envisages, among other things, the entry of IVASS and Ania into the Strategic Committee which is entrusted with the body's policy decisions.
Based on the principle of public-private cooperation, CERTFin has the task of increasing the cyber risk management capacity of banking, insurance and financial operators and the cyber resilience of the Italian financial sector, through operational and strategic support to prevention activities , preparedness and response to cyber attacks and security incidents. In addition, a careful collection of data, indications and reports and analysis of the main phenomena connected to the universe of cybersecurity that can have an impact on the sector is carried out, allowing the efficient and timely exchange of information between active banking and financial operators in Italy. Suffice it to say that, since the start of its activity in 2017, the body has already sent over 2200 reports relating to more than 1800 phenomena detected and analysed.
In line with the National Cybersecurity Strategy, CERTFin also performs a liaison function with all the other institutional initiatives launched in the country on the subject of cyber security and protection of critical infrastructures, consolidating collaboration and further expanding the network of institutional interlocutors and national and international experts. Participation in CERTFin is open to all operators in the banking, insurance and financial sector: to date, 47 have already joined the initiative, 10 of whom also participate in a "Virtual Team" created ad hoc to explore the main phenomena for the benefit of the whole sector.
