Cybersecurity is “a serious financial stability concern” and continued high-profile data breaches could cause consumers to lose confidence in payments and resort to less efficient options, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said in a recent speech.

Speaking in Cape Town, South Africa at a forum on financial sector supervision and regulation organized by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the Financial Stability Institute, Rosengren called for a level of information-sharing and expectation-setting by national defense agencies, regulators, supervisors and operators exceeding that of today.

Rosengren said the adoption of national defense grade security level, rather than a commercial grade security level, would mean a much more resilient – albeit expensive – payment system.

“Sharing actionable information about cyberattacks has the potential to significantly improve a firm’s preparedness,” he said.

As an example, he referenced a 2014 pilot program conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston focused on the sharing of cyber threat information by, and among, small to medium-sized banks. The successful pilot, Rosengren said, highlights that “more peer sharing for groups of smaller institutions has the potential to help thwart cyber criminals’ potential entry to payment systems.”

“Given the importance of a safe and available payment system to the functioning of a nation’s economy, investment in core aspects of systems to ensure they are as secure and cyber resilient as possible must be a national priority,” he said.