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Swift CSP 2023: Cyber Defence for Financial Institutions

The Swift Customer Security Programme (Swift CSP) was initiated to enhance cyber-security hygiene across all users by mitigating the risk of cyber-attacks and minimizing the financial repercussions resulting from fraudulent transactions.

The SWIFT CSCF incorporates advisory and mandatory security controls, based on industry-standard frameworks, for instance- PCI-DSS, ISO 27000, and NIST. Mandatory security controls of CSCF work on the ground level for the entire community to combat cyberattacks, gain tangible security controls and reduce risks. Therefore, these security controls must be implemented by all users on local SWIFT infrastructure. SWIFT prioritizes these 3 objectives:
Swift CSP 2023 Objectives and Principles

Overview of changes

Over time, the mandatory controls have gradually been changed to defend against fraudulent activities and attacks connected to the financial scope. Here is the timeline for those transformations over the years:
Swift CSP mandatory controls overview of changes
The 32 security controls (24 mandatory controls and 8 advisory controls depending on your architecture) underpin the objectives and principles. In each security control documents the most common risk drivers and controls to help mitigate specific cyber-security risks that SWIFT users face due to the cyber-threat landscape such as:

Processing of unauthorised Swift inbound transactions

Unauthorized sending or modifications of transactions

Integrity breach of computer systems, operators' details, or business data

Confidentiality breach of computer systems, operators' details, or business data

Operations conducted with an unauthorized counterparty

Consequently, these amendments represent enterprise-level risks, including the following:
  • Financial Risk
  • Reputational Risk
  • Legal Risk
  • Regulatory Risk
SWIFT recommends all the users to rigorously follow cyber security protocols in all possible ways, including beyond the scope of the user’s SWIFT infrastructure and the SWIFT security controls to minimise the risks into the broader end-to-end transaction chain.

How can ECS help you with the Swift CSP?

ECS Fin, a fintech company officially recognized auditor by SWIFT, and has experience of assisting financial institutions and corporates with safeguarding their IT infrastructure’s integrity through implementing SWIFT’s Customer Security Controls Framework (CSCF) to achieve compliance. In response to SWIFT’s requirement for users to demonstrate their compliance by 31 December 2023, the previous option of self-attestation is no longer available. ECS experts’ consultants and auditors work with you at every step to ensure a successful attestation for CSP v2023.

Swift CSP Readiness:

ECS's leadership in the field of cyber-security assures you of a comprehensive review of your security posture, architectural type, and the proper applicability of each control type to your operating environment directly to the CSCF v2023 requirements.

Swift CSP Independent Assessment:

Our assessment models are customized from the primary assessment of SWIFT CSP controls to assess every vulnerability while operating to present progressive measures for a safe and secure payment processing chain.

Continuous Assistance: 

Our services extend to assisting all SWIFT members in identifying the weaknesses in their existing infrastructures and adhering to SWIFT's recommended policies and practices. By doing so, we aid in establishing a robust defensive strategy to safeguard against potential cyber-attacks.

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