The Bank of England has today published the findings of the Waking Shark II exercise, which tested the wholesale banking sector’s response to a sustained and intensive cyber-attack. The exercise supports the recommendation by the Financial Policy Committee to improve and test resilience against cyber attacks. The report shows that considerable progress has been made since the previous exercises in 2011 and highlights areas which could be further improved.

Waking Shark II was organised by the Securities Industry Business Continuity Management Group which drew on extensive cyber expertise to design a scenario in which a cyber attack caused disruption to wholesale markets and the financial infrastructure supporting those markets. It involved participants from investment banks, financial market infrastructure, the financial authorities and the relevant government agencies.

The exercise tested the communication between firms, between firms and the authorities, and aimed to improve understanding of the impact of a cyber attack on the participants and wider financial sector.

Commenting on the report into cyber resilience, Richard Horne, cyber security partner, PwC, said: “The government's initiative in highlighting the risks to critical national infrastructure from digital attacks is welcome. Providers of critical infrastructure need to have strong cyber security defences to match the growing threats that we see.

"Industry and regulators need to work together not just to raise that capability but also to understand and manage the increasing levels of connectivity and interdependence between organisations. Communication and cooperation are critical and, as today's report on the Waking Shark 2 exercise shows, the CISP (Cyber security Information Sharing Partnership) platform can play an increasingly important role in helping to identify and communicate threats to industry sectors and also facilitate a coordinated response in times of crisis.”

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