The European Central Bank (ECB) is preparing banks for a possible Russian-sponsored cyberattack as tensions with Ukraine mount, two people with knowledge of the matter said, as the region braces for the financial fallout of any conflict.
The standoff between Russia and Ukraine has rattled Europe’s political and business leaders, who fear an invasion that would inflict damage on the entire region.
Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron shuttled from Moscow to Kiev in a bid to act as a mediator after Russia massed troops near Ukraine.
Now the ECB, led by former French finance minister Christine Lagarde and which has oversight of Europe’s biggest lenders, is on alert for the threat of cyberattacks on banks launched from Russia, the people said.
While the regulator had been focused on ordinary scams that boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine crisis has diverted its attention to cyberattacks launched from Russia, one of the people said, adding that the ECB has questioned banks about their defenses.
Banks were conducting cyberwar games to test their ability to fend off an attack, the person said.
The ECB, which has singled out addressing cybersecurity vulnerability as one of its priorities, declined to comment.
Its concerns are mirrored around the world.
The New York Department of Financial Services issued an alert to financial institutions late last month, warning of retaliatory cyberattacks should Russia invade Ukraine and trigger US sanctions, according to Thomson Reuters’ Regulatory Intelligence.
The US, the EU and Britain have repeatedly warned Russian President Vladmiri Putin against attacking Ukraine after Moscow deployed about 100,000 troops near the border with its former Soviet neighbor.
Earlier this year, multiple Ukrainian Web sites were hit by a cyberstrike that left a warning to “be afraid and expect the worst.”
Ukraine’s state security service, SBU, said it saw signs the attack was linked to hacker groups associated with Russian intelligence services.
Russian officials say the West is gripped by Russophobia and has no right to lecture Moscow on how to act after it expanded the NATO military alliance eastward since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.
The Kremlin has also repeatedly denied that the Russian state has anything to do with hacking around the world, and said it is ready to cooperate with the US and others to crack down on cybercrime.
Nonetheless, regulators in Europe are on high alert.
Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre warned large organizations to bolster their cybersecurity resilience amid the deepening tensions over Ukraine.
On Tuesday, German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority President Mark Branson told an online conference that cyberwarfare was interconnected with geopolitics and security.
The White House has blamed Russia for the devastating “NotPetya” cyberattack in 2017, when a virus crippled parts of Ukraine’s infrastructure, taking down thousands of computers in dozens of countries.
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) yesterday released the first video documenting the submerged sea trials of Taiwan’s indigenous defense submarine prototype, the Hai Kun (海鯤), or Narwhal, showing underwater navigation and the launch of countermeasures. The footage shows the vessel’s first dive, steering and control system tests, and the raising and lowering of the periscope and antenna masts. It offered a rare look at the progress in the submarine’s sea acceptance tests. The Hai Kun carried out its first shallow-water diving trial late last month and has since completed four submerged tests, CSBC said. The newly released video compiles images recorded from Jan. 29 to
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to make advanced 3-nanometer chips in Japan, stepping up its semiconductor manufacturing roadmap in the country in a triumph for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s technology ambitions. TSMC is to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fab in Kumamoto, company chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. That is an upgrade from an original blueprint to produce 7-nanometer chips by late next year, people familiar with the matter said. TSMC began mass production at its first plant in Japan’s Kumamoto in late 2024. Its second fab, which is still under construction, was originally focused on
DETERRENCE EFFORTS: Washington and partners hope demonstrations of force would convince Beijing that military action against Taiwan would carry high costs The US is considering using HMAS Stirling in Western Australia as a forward base to strengthen its naval posture in a potential conflict with China, particularly over Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. As part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, Washington plans to deploy up to four nuclear-powered submarines at Stirling starting in 2027, providing a base near potential hot spots such as Taiwan and the South China Sea. The move also aims to enhance military integration with Pacific allies under the Australia-UK-US trilateral security partnership, the report said. Currently, US submarines operate from Guam, but the island could
RESTRAINTS: Should China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, China would be excluded from major financial institutions, the bill says The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which states that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude Beijing from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China must be prepared
RSS