The German financial sector supervisor, Bafin, expressed concern on Tuesday about the “
very significant
” risk of cyberattacks, “
more likely
” since the war in Ukraine.
"
The danger of companies in the financial sector falling victim to cyberattacks or internal IT security incidents occurring is very significant and very present
," Mark Branson, Bafin's chairman since January, told a press conference. .
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"
In extreme cases, "
such incidents can harm the stability of the financial system
", he stressed, wondering if the institutions are sufficiently prepared in the face of "
a really serious security incident
".
Russia's war in Ukraine "
has made cyberattacks on the German financial sector more likely
", he continued.
Risk increase
Since the beginning of the war, information from the national cyber defense center has been transmitted to the institutes on possible attack patterns.
These preparations are all the more necessary since the cyber risk “will
increase instead of decrease
”, is convinced Mr. Branson.
Another risk treated as a priority by the financial watchdog concerns money laundering, which can manifest itself if financial companies are "
too lax in terms of prevention
", with "
damages to reputation (which) can be immense, even existential.
»
In addition, the direct effects of the war or resulting from the sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus should “
to date be manageable for the German financial system
”, he underlined.
The first German bank Deutsche Bank had, like other institutes, limited links with Russia before the war and are in the process of reducing them.
