As expected, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, on behalf of its members, released a Cybersecurity Assessment Tool to help institutions identify their risks and assess their cybersecurity preparedness.

Financial institutions of all sizes may use the tool and other methodologies to perform a self-assessment and update their risk management strategies. The release of the Cybersecurity Assessment Tool follows last year's pilot assessment of cybersecurity preparedness at more than 500 institutions. The FFIEC plans to update the assessment tool as threats, vulnerabilities, and operational environments evolve.

In addition to the assessment, the FFIEC also made available other resources, including an executive overview, a user's guide and an online presentation explaining the assessment. It also provided appendices mapping the assessment's baseline maturity statements to the FFIEC Information Technology Examination Handbook, mapping all maturity statements to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Cybersecurity Framework and providing a glossary of terms.