By Scott Murdoch
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s prudential regulator has cautioned that the country’s banking system is facing increasing risk of cyberattacks as a result of escalating geopolitical tensions.
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) chair John Lonsdale said the regulator would increase its work with the country’s banks in the year ahead to combat the potential for more cyberattacks.
APRA, in an annual report, did not identify countries it believed could be behind the cyberattacks.
“Operational systems in financial institutions are increasingly vulnerable to technology outages and malicious cyber-attacks,” Lonsdale said in the report.
“The risk environment for cyberattacks could worsen further in the context of escalating geopolitical tensions.”
APRA said the growing use of artificial intelligence was also an emerging risk the banking sector faced.
A report released by National Australia Bank last year found more than two-thirds of Australians had been affected by a cyberattack or data breach.
APRA established its first geopolitical risk team in 2024 to identify potential threats to the country’s banking system.
(Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Sonali Paul)
