The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Wall Street’s industry funded watchdog, is planning to intensify its scrutiny of cyber security practices at brokerage firms in 2015.
According to Reuters, it will hire tech-savvy examiners to help boost its efforts. This is the first time that a regulator has hired examiners with technology expertise to assist in reviewing firms’ practices, a FINRA spokeswoman said.
The watchdog routinely examines brokerages to check up on whether they are complying with securities industry rules, but FINRA is beefing up its efforts as Wall Street grows increasingly concerned about hacking, which could compromise their clients’ personal information and other data.
FINRA said it expects to hire a “handful” of examiners with technology expertise. The role includes examining measures that firms have in place for securing clients’ data and testing the integrity of firms’ technology, according to FINRA job descriptions.
