BNB will launch hackers to test the security of our banks

Banks' goal: to self-sabotage to protect against cyberattacks

TIBER (Threat Intelligence-based Ethical Red Teaming), this could be the name of a new sci-fi movie. But no, this is the title of the new European program for to protect against bank cyberattacks . Belgium is counting on being a precursor

The National Bank of Belgium thus chose to call on consultants, ethical hackers to attack our financial institutions. The goal: to prepare against all potential threats. "We badyze the risks against which we are prepared … and especially those against which we are not" declares Ewald Nowotny Governor of the Austrian National Bank, Austria being currently the Presidency of the Council of the EU

The measure is not new. She has been studying for two years. But here it is finally on the calendar. "We are currently engaging the hackers to hold meetings with security services in Belgium On the basis of the information collected, we will then build a scenario of attack for financial institutions " says Tim Hermans, director of the National Bank of Belgium. On the side of the BNB, we cross our fingers. The first tests could begin at the beginning of next year.

"We speak of very advanced attacks from which we go to copy the behaviors of the hackers that exist today They are ordered to do what is necessary to attack a financial institution, enter the system and, for example, make a transfer of funds to an account in China " explains Tim Hermans.

This test system is part of a European-wide protection program . With the ultimate goal of setting up a European regulation, kind of common front against hackers. Best of all for our experts: if the tests are conclusive, the Belgian example could become an inspiration for all the countries of the Union. The EU as a whole would draw lessons to test and compare this structure in all its member countries.

self-hacking has become a necessary weapon for the security of financial institutions. Attempts at cyberattacks have recently exploded in numbers but also in range. The economic damage caused by these cybercrimes has increased fivefold in the last five years according to a report by the EU Council Presidency. And the banks are the first victims of these strikes, subjected to almost daily attempts of theft .