Patrick Montagner, a member of the European Central Bank’s Supervisory Board, announced in Frankfurt today that the upcoming exercise will involve other institutions, such as the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the Single Resolution Board (SRB).
During a conference organized by the rating agency Fitch and the consultancy firm PwC Strategy&, Montagner stated that in 2023 and 2024, the ECB conducted simulations to test its own resilience to cyberattacks, as well as that of the national central banks in the eurozone, other national authorities, and commercial banks.
Between January and July of last year, the exercise covered 109 credit institutions, of which 28 were subjected to “more exhaustive tests,” according to the central bank led by Christine Lagarde.
The aim was to assess how the institutions would respond to a severe cybersecurity incident, deemed plausible, and understand how they would recover from any failures.
Now, the ECB plans to repeat the test to “improve collective operational resilience and coordination capabilities,” Montagner added, referring to plans set for 2026.
The ECB collaborates in this area with the cybersecurity expert group from G7 countries, a group that in 2024 simulated a large-scale cyberattack on the financial market infrastructure and financial entities of the member countries (Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Japan).
The exercise involved 23 financial authorities at that time, including ministries of finance, central banks, banking supervisors, and market authorities, as well as private sector participants.
