[ 2011-11-22 ]

Banks tested with cyber attack, travel exercise
London (UK) – 22 November 2011 - Reuters -
Britain's banks must show regulators on Tuesday
they could cope with two emergency scenarios -- a
big cyber attack stopping customers withdrawing
cash, and public transport disruptions during next
summer's Olympic Games.

Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, and Royal Bank of Scotland
are among 87 financial firms taking part in a
market-wide exercise to check how quickly they can
return to 'business as usual' after the
simultaneous scenarios.

"There are no 'passes' or 'fails'. The exercise is
about firms assessing their business continuity
systems and updating them where necessary and the
authorities identifying areas for further
attention," the Financial Services Authority
said.

The FSA is coordinating an exercise that kicks off
at 8 a.m. and was set to be completed around late
afternoon. The Bank of England and the finance
ministry helped put together the two test
scenarios.

The exercise is voluntary and one of the largest
of its kind in the world, involving thousands of
staff.

While Britain has been looking at contingency
plans in case the euro zone breaks up, this won't
form part of Tuesday's test.

The watchdog will publish a summary of its
findings in February but any firm that struggles
to show a convincing response will have questions
to answer.

The scenario for a cyber attack will involve the
internet crashing, along with telecoms and
wholesale and retail payment systems such as high
street bank ATMs, or cash machines.

The FSA will be checking how firms tell customers
who can no longer use their credit cards, make
payments, take out cash or check accounts online.

The response would be set against a backdrop of
severe travel disruption during next year's
Olympics when the number of travellers is set to
swell.

The combination will look at what firms do when
they cannot contact employees or if staff cannot
get to the office to deal with a systems and
communications crash.

Firms will also have to look at what happens if
they cannot take delivery of essential goods and
services.

Source - Reuters

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