Non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) have been asked to form their own cybersecurity management teams in order to monitor and thwart digital threats.
The cybersecurity teams will have to present the overall status of the IT security and system backup during board meetings, according to a circular issued by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Tuesday.
At the end of each working day, the backup of the overall ledger and database should be collected and stored properly as per the guidelines.
BB had earlier advised to form a committee for formulating a comprehensive policy on disaster recovery, database management, business continuity following the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Speaking to Dhaka Tribune, Md Kyser Hamid, managing director of BD Finance, appreciated the central bank's move and said the circular was issued as an extension of previous instructions they issued.
"As part of the new instruction the central bank has asked to form an IT management team to enhance and develop cybersecurity of NBFIs," explained Kyser.
He also pointed out, NBFIs have been exposed to cybersecurity threats with the pacing digitization, with some NBFIs having digital wallets, credit cards even and availing consumer loans.
In this regard, there is a strong requirement to strengthen IT security in the financial sector. Accelerated digitalization and remote working arrangements have increased the global financial sector's exposure to cyber-risks and could lead to more complex cyberattacks that trigger higher losses, according to Hamid.
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Although NBFIs have less real-time transactions than banks both finance sector institutions close ledgers on day end. In the case of a cybersecurity attack an efficient database management will help to identify transaction standings prior to it, said Kyser.
Additionally, data from records sought by BB can be availed efficiently in contrast to sending them manually with the help of secured database management through an IT team, he added.
There are 36 NBFIs operating in the market in Bangladesh.