Through a press release dated January 3, 2024, the European Central Bank (ECB) has announced that it will test the resilience of banks in the event of a cyber – attack.
As reported, the stress test will be conducted on 109 banks supervised by the ECB to assess their response and recovery capabilities, involving the activation of emergency procedures and contingency plans.
Moreover, only 28 of the examined banks will undergo a more detailed examination regarding the methods used to counter the attack.
This is a qualitative exercise that will have no capital impact according to the guidelines of Pillar 2, indicating the capital level each bank should hold beyond mandatory capital requirements to absorb losses from potential cyber- attack scenarios. It will simply gather information for a broader supervisory assessment in 2024.
Furthermore, Supervisory Authorities will discuss the results with the relevant parties, along with insights gained in the context of the review and stress testing process, evaluating the individual risk profile of a bank.
The main test results will be communicated starting from the summer of 2024.