LONDON: A cyberattack by a foreign government on financial markets played out in one of London’s historic halls yesterday in a “war game” simulation designed to test the City’s defences against online saboteurs.
About 100 bankers, regulators, government officials and market infrastructure providers gathered to take part in a exercise dubbed “Waking Shark II” at Plaisterers’ Hall in the heart of Britain’s financial district.
The five and a half hour event involved simulations designed to test how well banks and other market players communicate and coordinate with authorities and each other, sources said.
An industry source who attended said one of the simulations featured a cyberattack by a fake foreign government and a denial-of-service attack, which makes network resources unavailable to users.
The source described the test as a “productive exercise” which left participants better equipped to deal with a real-life attack.
The finance ministry, Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority said the exercise had been “sustained and intensive”.
“A thorough review of the lessons learned is under way to identify potential improvements to the resilience of the sector,” their joint statement added. A report will be published early in the new year.
REUTERS
