The Federal Reserve Bank of New York ("FRBNY") analyzed the potential impact of a cyberattack
transmitted through a payment system against a (i) single large
bank, (ii) group of smaller banks and (iii) common service
provider.
In a report entitled "Cyber Risk and U.S. Financial System:
A Pre-Mortem Analysis," the FRBNY warned that an attack on a
bank's ability to send payments "would likely be amplified
to affect the liquidity of many other banks in the system."
According to the FRBNY, the U.S. financial system would be impaired
by such an attack on (i) any one of the five most active U.S.
banks, (ii) several small to midsize banks that are associated
through a shared vulnerability or (iii) a bank with a small number
of total assets but a heavy payment flow.
