S&P to include hacking risks in credit rating of Asia-Pacific banks

Negative ratings momentum could result in jurisdictions where the entire industry suffers serious data breaches repeatedly, or where regulators are particularly lax, the agency said

With the surge in inter-connected banking on digital platforms, global rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) today said it is incorporating risks of hacking into rating of financial institutions.

Asia-Pacific banks have been hacked before, and will be hacked again, the agency said in a statement, adding that the region's ever-more open and interconnected banking systems raise the threat of hacks and data breaches.

Apart from creating direct monetary losses, data breaches can damage the reputation of a bank and hit its credit profile. In jurisdictions where the entire industry suffers serious data breaches repeatedly, or where regulators are particularly