"The destruction of financial data or the disruption of our capital markets caused by a successful cyber attack would have a ripple effect across the economy and across the globe.

"SIFMA has recently undertaken a five part effort to address cybersecurity threats and related risks to its membership and the financial services industry at large. The ultimate goal of this effort is to better identify the vulnerabilities for a cyber attack, improve the industry's cybersecurity protections and prepare individual firms and the broader sector to respond to a cyber attack, thereby enhancing protections for the capital markets and the millions of Americans who use financial services every day.

"Industry looks to the government to help identify uniform standards, promote accountability across the entire critical infrastructure, and provide access to essential information.  Likewise, government depends upon industry to implement regulation or guidance and collaborate on identifying risks and providing effective solutions.

"SIFMA has worked to deepen our members' engagement with the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) by promoting general membership and participation in its programs.

"[T]here is a need for Congress to engage more productively in this effort to improve our cybersecurity and the best place to start is by the Senate taking up and passing S. 2588, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) of 2014, which received large bipartisan support in the Senate Intelligence Committee this past July. The threat our economy faces from cyber attacks is real and Congressional action will significantly improve information sharing crucial to improving our cyber defenses.

"As an industry, we have made cybersecurity a top priority. SIFMA has brought together experts from across the public and private sectors to better understand the risks involved in a cyber attack and develop best practices to bvebved in a cyber attack and develop best practices to be better prepared to thwart an attack, but to be effective, we must work closely with the federal government to strengthen our partnership, protect our economy and the millions of Americans who place their confidence in the financial markets each and every day."