The declaration from a Treasury Department office comes amid an environment where attackers are multiplying and the threat surface is rapidly expanding.

The sanctions include actions against "hackers who execute cyber-attacks on American financial institutions.”

With U.S.-Russia relations under the microscope, it wasn't much of a surprise to see an uproar over an otherwise "routine" adjustment to sanctions against the Putin government.

Currently, the regular audits that publicly traded companies have to undergo include a very limited cyber element.

Banks would be able to hide, move or encrypt their internal networks, traffic and data to hide them from hackers and cybercriminals if technology the Department of Homeland Security is seeking from Silicon Valley startups comes to fruition.