Zero Day American Banker

Previewing a special five-part podcast coming April 30, where American Banker explores the urgent problem that cyber attacks pose on the financial system and what can be done to stop them.

Cybercrime has emerged as one of the biggest potential sources of risk to the financial system over the last 20 years, and cybersecurity is a paramount concern to bankers everywhere. But can the internet be made more secure?

Computers were invented to calculate quickly and efficiently, but the emergence of the internet opened up enticing new possibilities for communication and commerce. But security has long been an afterthought.

The government's approach to cybersecurity has evolved gradually over the last 40 years, and what we have now is a patchwork approach that serves some critical infrastructures better than others.

Cyberspace exists at the intersection of technology and human error. Is there a technical answer to reducing human error and making the internet more secure? And more secure for whom?

The advent of advanced quantum computers could upend encryption as we know it, and a race is on to protect cyberspace before one arrives. But no one knows when that will be, and updating the internet will require a new approach.