As more vehicle installment contracts and payments are being handled electronically, cyber-security now ranks as the principal concern of the financial services industry, according to results of a new survey recently released by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC).

In the wake of several recent high-profile cyber-attacks on major sectors of the global economy, officials indicated 84 percent of respondents in DTCC’s Systemic Risk Barometer identified cyber-risk as one of their top five concerns — an increase of 25 points since the last survey was conducted in March.

Furthermore, DTCC reported that 33 percent of survey participants ranked cyber-attacks as the No. 1 systemic risk to the broader economy, up from 24 percent from March.

In addition to the findings on cyber-risk, the survey’s other key findings include:

— 64 percent of respondents also cite the impact of new regulation as a top five concern.

— 62 percent of respondents identified geopolitical risk as a top five concern.

— 37 percent of respondents said that the probability of a high-impact event in the global financial system has increased during the past six months — up 16 points since March.

In line with these results, officials pointed out that 76 percent of all respondents indicated they have increased the amount of resources dedicated to identifying, monitoring and mitigating systemic risks during the past year.

The company reiterated the DTCC Systemic Risk Barometer is an on-going pulse check survey that monitors emerging trends on significant risks that may impact the safety, resiliency and stability of the global financial system. The survey is meant to reflect feedback provided by a wide variety of respondents, including DTCC clients, as well as financial industry professionals from regulatory bodies, academia and research organizations worldwide.

To bring greater industry focus on these issues, DTCC released a comprehensive white paper titled, “Cyber-Risk: A Global Systemic Threat,” which identifies greater information sharing and closer collaboration between the public and private sectors as among the strongest defenses to combat cyber-crimes.

The paper showed that despite progress in this area in recent years, information sharing remains insufficiently coordinated.

 “Building information partnerships among key stakeholders is critical to developing the most comprehensive and effective tools for promoting cyber-security across the financial system and in our critical infrastructures,” DTCC chief systemic risk officer Michael Leibrock said.

“The best way to achieve these alliances is through a truly coordinated and open approach across industries and national borders,” Leibrock said. “With concerns about the potential wide-spread impact of cyber-threats growing rapidly given the recent high-profile cyber-attacks, our white paper provides a solid platform for greater discussion around this very real risk.”

The white paper is designed to provide global policy makers and the financial community with a number of recommendations to strengthen resiliency from cyber-risks. As a top priority, the paper calls for the creation of global industry working groups to engage with relevant national regulators on the development of cyber-security regulations that address the real-time and evolving nature of cyber-threats.

In addition, the paper cites the need for those charged with developing strategies for cyber-security to shift the focus of programs from “check the box” security to actively hunting threats.

“No institution — large or small, public or private — is immune to a potential cyber-attack,” said Mark Clancy, DTCC corporate information security officer and chief executive officer of Soltra.

“All of us need to become agile in response to these rapidly evolving threats by being able to share information about attackers’ activities between multiple stakeholders and shifting the model from individual institution’s static defenses to dynamic community responses. This shift requires both the maturation of operational capabilities and public policy frameworks to be successful.”

Other topics covered in the paper — which can be downloaded here — include:

— The need for organizations to develop, execute and enhance institutional cyber-resilience to protect core business functions

— A global overview of public policy initiatives designed to safeguard critical infrastructure, protect national security and ensure data privacy

— Recommendations for addressing future cyber-threats drawing on best practices and lessons learned by cyber-defenders