The Central Bank has highlighted increasing cybersecurity risks to financial institutions across Europe in its latest financial stability report, with 22.2% of EU businesses reporting cyber incidents that disrupted services or compromised data.
Finland recorded the highest rate of cyberattacks affecting business operations at 43.8%, followed by the Netherlands at 30.1% and Poland at 29.7%.
Cyprus reported a lower rate of 14.3% among companies with more than 10 employees.
The report indicates that exposure to cyber risks has intensified due to heightened geopolitical tensions, increased digital connectivity, and the rise in remote working following the pandemic.
The growing trend of outsourcing critical IT infrastructure to third-party providers has also contributed to vulnerabilities.
In response, the Central Bank of Cyprus has implemented mandatory annual penetration testing of critical banking infrastructure and is actively participating in the implementation of the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).
A pan-European coordination framework for addressing systemic cyber incidents, recommended by the European Systemic Risk Board, is expected to become operational in 2025.
The framework aims to enhance authorities’ preparedness and facilitate coordinated responses to potentially significant cyber events.
The central bank emphasised that evolving cyber threats pose a significant risk to EU financial stability, with potential to disrupt critical economic functions and erode trust in the system, particularly if critical entities are affected or interconnections create systemic threats.
