SANTO DOMINGO. -The Superintendency of Banks reported that it held the first Cybersecurity Supervision Congress: Resilience and Trust in the Financial Sector, where it emphasized the importance of optimizing surveillance and data protection in the banking system.
With the participation of representatives from the supervised entities, national and international cybersecurity experts emphasized that the protection of data and systems by financial institutions must be a constant task to mitigate risks.
Experts agreed that preparedness is crucial to mitigating the impact of technology incidents. “We must be continuously testing and analyzing to avoid surprises and be prepared,” stated James Pichardo, Chief Information Security Officer at the SB, during his presentation “From Testing to Hardening: The Role of Continuous Validation in Financial Resilience.”
For Pichardo, this strategy of testing and constant vigilance has particular relevance in a context where attack techniques are developing at a dizzying pace.
He added that, even if the established regulations and protocols for mitigating risks are followed, vulnerability to cybercrime .
For his part, Stephen Fallas , leader of the international security platform Trellix , explained that the strategic approach based on resilience consists of resisting, adapting and recovering technological infrastructures in the face of situations that may compromise their integrity.
In presenting the paper “ Compliance and resilience: learning from the past to build the future” , the Costa Rican expert recommended that the different defense structures of critical assets that may be attacked should be interconnected, so that a coordinated and automated response can be provided.
The congress continued with the panel “Resilience and trust in the financial sector”, with the participation of Pichardo, Fallas and Diego LaVerde, vice president of the Information Security Area of Banco Popular, moderated by Yulianna Ramón , deputy manager of Regulation and Innovation of the SB.
Next, Juan Daniel Pujols, Deputy Director of Information Security at the SB, presented an overview of the cybercrime situation against financial intermediation entities.
He cited the World Economic Forum 's Global Risks Report 2025 , which ranks technological risks, including information security incidents, among the most significant global risks over the next two years. " When we look specifically at the financial sector, studies project that the average cost of a bank security breach in 2025 will be approximately USD 6 million per incident," he stated.
In other news, José Guillermo López, Deputy Manager of Supervision at the SB, highlighted the institution's commitment to strengthening the security, trust, and resilience of the Dominican financial system in an increasingly digital and challenging environment.
Likewise, at the close of the activity, the Superintendent of Banks, Julio Caminero, encouraged the representatives of the EIFs to continue strengthening their structures to face the threats.
