FFIEC Updates Cybersecurity Assessment Tool

On May 31, 2017, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) released an update to its Cybersecurity Assessment Tool.

The Cybersecurity Assessment Tool was originally released by the FFIEC in June of 2015 to help financial institutions identify their risks and assess their cybersecurity preparedness.  The Cybersecurity Assessment Tool is intended to be used by financial institutions of all sizes to perform a self-assessment and inform their risk management strategies. Upon the release of the original Cybersecurity Assessment Tool, the FFIEC noted its plan to update the Cybersecurity Assessment Tool as threats, vulnerabilities, and operational environments evolve.

According to the FFIEC’s May 31st press release, the update to the Cybersecurity Assessment Tool “addresses changes to the FFIEC IT Examination Handbook by providing a revised mapping in Appendix A to the updated Information Security and Management booklets”. The updated Cybersecurity Assessment Tool also provides “additional response options, allowing financial institution management to include supplementary or complementary behaviors, practices and processes that represent current practices of the institution in supporting its cybersecurity activity assessment.”

Financial institutions can find the updated version of the Cybersecurity Assessment Tool here.