EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Just as Cyber Threat Alliance brought together businesses that compete to share advanced threat intelligence in the war against cybercrime, another joint effort has formed within the US financial sector. Banks and credit unions have quietly joined together to form an alliance that provides back-up for each other in the event of a cyberattack.

Dubbed Sheltered Harbor, CSO reports that it is composed of more than 100 banking and financial experts. According to The Wall Street Journal, the financial institutions involved cover about 400 million US accounts.

Here’s CSO‘s description of how Sheltered Harbor works:

• All participating institutions, on a regular basis, make a copy of the consumer’s account data in a standard format, which enables the restoration of accounts in the event of a major outage.
• The account data is archived in a secure data vault that is protected from alteration or deletion. The data will stay intact and accessible if needed — exactly as when it was archived.
• All participating institutions update their adherence reviews to ensure that the Sheltered Harbor standards are exercised consistently and in accordance with Sheltered Harbor specifications.

Read the full story at CSO.