Jerome Powell says cyberattacks are the biggest threat to the global financial system

Jerome Powell says cyberattacks are the biggest threat to the global financial system

by
The assessment by one of the world’s leading banking officials highlights how the threat of burglary has become an extreme concern in the highest governments.
In an interview aired Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Powell said the world has changed significantly since the days of the Great Recession.
“I would say the risk that we are getting the most attention from now is cyber risk,” Powell told CBS. ‘You will therefore be concerned about a cyber event. This is something that many, many government agencies, including the Fed and all large private companies and especially all large private financial companies, are very closely monitoring and investing heavily in. I would say is now rather than something that looked like the global financial crisis. ‘
Powell tells '60 minutes' that the US economy is at a 'turning point'

One nightmare scenario, Powell said, would be if hackers could succeed in shutting down a major payment processor – impeding the flow of money from one financial institution to another. It could close sectors or even broad sections of the financial system, he said.

Governments and private companies are increasingly on the lookout for those kinds of threats, Powell said. “We are spending so much time and energy and money to guard against it. There are now cyber attacks on all major institutions every day. And the government is working hard on that. So are all the private sector businesses. There is a lot of effort involved in dealing with the threats. It’s a big part of the threat picture in today’s world. ‘

Digital dollars?

Asked if the United States intends to launch a digital U.S. currency in response to China’s move to do the same, Powell said. Officials are thinking about the issue, he said, and there are studies taking place across the country. But no decision has been made because it is not clear whether digital dollars will be able to serve Americans.

“The fundamental question for us is really if we add this new digital currency to reliable money that we trust to provide to the public, will it help the public?” Powell said. “Will the public be better off with it? And will there also have negative consequences? Will it perhaps have unexpected consequences in other parts of the financial system that we should consider weighing the costs and benefits of this? We are the world’s reserve currency. “The dollar is so important. We have to get it right. We do not have to be the first to do it. We want to get it right. And that’s what we’re going to do.”

.Source