ECB Tells Europe's Biggest Banks to Prepare for AI-Powered Cyber Threats

The European Central Bank, the eurozone's top banking supervisor, has instructed the major lenders it oversees to prepare action plans addressing the cybersecurity risks posed by increasingly capable artificial intelligence systems. In a letter to the 110 banks it directly supervises, including large institutions headquartered in Germany and across the euro area, the ECB's Supervisory Board said the latest AI models represent a long-term shift in the threat landscape rather than a passing phenomenon, warning that while they do not create entirely new risks, they significantly amplify the speed and scale at which existing risks can materialize. Banks have been asked to submit by 31 October plans detailing the immediate and longer-term measures they intend to take. To give firms room to focus on the new threat, the supervisor said it would postpone its annual IT risk questionnaire and consider adjusting other supervisory activities. The letter also flagged emerging technologies such as quantum computing as a future concern. The move came alongside a warning from a European systemic-risk body, underscoring growing official concern about technology-driven threats to the financial system.