Article 9: Protection and prevention

1. For the purposes of adequately protecting ICT systems and with a view to organising response measures, financial entities shall continuously monitor and control the security and functioning of ICT systems and tools and shall minimise the impact of ICT risk on ICT systems through the deployment of appropriate ICT security tools, policies and procedures.

2. Financial entities shall design, procure and implement ICT security policies, procedures, protocols and tools that aim to ensure the resilience, continuity and availability of ICT systems, in particular for those supporting critical or important functions, and to maintain high standards of availability, authenticity, integrity and confidentiality of data, whether at rest, in use or in transit.

3. In order to achieve the objectives referred to in paragraph 2, financial entities shall use ICT solutions and processes that are appropriate in accordance with Article 4. Those ICT solutions and processes shall:

(a)

ensure the security of the means of transfer of data;

(b)

minimise the risk of corruption or loss of data, unauthorised access and technical flaws that may hinder business activity;

(c)

prevent the lack of availability, the impairment of the authenticity and integrity, the breaches of confidentiality and the loss of data;

(d)

ensure that data is protected from risks arising from data management, including poor administration, processing-related risks and human error.

4. As part of the ICT risk management framework referred to in Article 6(1), financial entities shall:

(a)

develop and document an information security policy defining rules to protect the availability, authenticity, integrity and confidentiality of data, information assets and ICT assets, including those of their customers, where applicable;