2025 Public Sector Perspectives

intelligence for a planned attack. Imagine a hostile force inside your central bank for six months – the mere thought shouldmake you very afraid. In an age where malicious penetration of a central bank or regulated financial institution is almost a certainty, early detection of any penetration and effective responses are critical tomitigating the forms of potential damage – financial, reputational, or otherwise. Note: Even with advancements in GenAI, cyberattacks can still be spotted by human detection. For example, employees can identify anomalies such as wires to unusual places for unusual amounts as a red flag behind a cyberattack. Hence, the human quotient is important. Not all of your investments in cybersecurity should be high-tech and capital- intensive; there should be strategic focus on how people and processes play into your cybersecurity ecosystem. Citi continues to focus on attracting the best, experienced cyber talent as well as following industry best practices and processes, and continuously improving on them. 3. Use your full tech toolkit to fortify your cyber defense Yes, big data, cloud computing, APIs, post- COVID-19 remote/work from home business models, the Internet of Things, and more, have ushered in a new age of cyber vulnerabilities. As suggested before, GenAI is a major disruptor of the cyber paradigm, particularly when leveraged by nation-state actors. But cutting- edge technology can also be harnessed by firms to play defense, too. The circle of trust tech world is delivering new cyber resilience tools every day to do just that. For example, at Citi, we have the AI capability to mine massive amounts of proprietary data inside our network of client data lakes to find anomalous transactions and to strengthen our algorithms against anomalies. Another notable example originating from Citi’s Dublin Innovation Lab has built capabilities to review payment data and, in a non-rule-based environment, to locate outliers or anomalies of any kind. These tools and more have broad-based application in financial crime, anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism, fraud, and cybersecurity. This is how Citi uses an integrated approach to leverage the strength of technology and human reasoning in cyber defense: when AI, tuned by shared lessons learned and insights from institutions that have suffered cyberattacks, detects an anomalous transaction, response teams can investigate and fine-tune their algorithms and models set up on “search-and- destroy” missions to find malware and criminal intrusions. Considering the continual evolution of the cyber threat, it is incumbent on central banks, governments, and financial firms to invest in robust security policies and capabilities. Now, as we have advised many of our central bank partners, we encourage investment in a GenAI partner that can assist as you navigate the numerous challenges and opportunities presented by this emerging technology. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) encourages every technology provider to take ownership at the executive level to ensure their products are secure by design. Note: “Secure by design” principles should be implemented during the design phase of a product’s development lifecycle to dramatically reduce the number of exploitable flaws before they are introduced to the market for broad use or consumption. 4. Invest in industry partnerships and cooperative mechanisms and protocols It is common for cybersecurity teams to share information within frameworks of pre-established protocols and defined circles of trust. As the NotPetya cyberattack demonstrated several years ago, networks are only as strong as the weakest link. Even if your organization has a robust cybersecurity system and is fortified, if your vendors, partners, or counterparties have cyber vulnerabilities in their critical infrastructure, then you are at risk cybercriminals are adept at identifying security gaps. Since copycat attacks are common, it is essential for central banks to explore appropriate, legal, and compliant cooperative mechanisms and protocols that enhance your strategy to withstand the cyber threat. We all must be proactive about cybersecurity, which means proactively building security in central banks before the next major attack. Citi Perspectives for the Public Sector 35