The ECB has prepared a trial to test whether banks have invested enough in their cybersecurity. A major report will be published in 2024.

The European Central Bank has been warning of an increase in cyber attacks since the beginning of the war in Ukraine and now wants to test whether these warnings have not fallen on deaf ears. On behalf of the ECB, Andrea Ernia told a Lithuanian newspaper that she wanted to test the cyber security of Europe’s largest banks. The message can also be read on Reuters for those who do not speak Lithuanian.

“Next year we will launch a thematic cyber resilience stress test, where we will try to test how banks can react to and recover from a successful cyber attack,” says Ernia. The head of supervision of the central bank does not comment on the how and what of the test.

Cyber ​​attacks are increasing

However, Ernia repeats without hesitation that a large-scale sample of banks is necessary. “It is a fact that the number of cyber attacks has increased since the beginning of the war, although we cannot attribute this to a specific source.” According to the ECB, outsourcing critical IT infrastructure to external parties makes banks vulnerable.

The results of the study will be published in mid-2024.