Financial regulators publish annual cyber resilience report

On 19 December 2023, the FCA, Bank of England and the PRA published their CBEST thematic report, the first time the report has been published in full.  

CBEST stands for "Critical National Infrastructure Banking Supervision and Evaluation Testing" and is part of the regulators' supervisory tools to assess the cyber resilience of firms' and financial market infrastructures' (FMIs) important business services.  

The report contains cyber resilience good practices and insights, including recommendations and guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre.

Firms and FMIs should embed the findings of the report into their cyber strategies, in particular the role and importance of cyber hygiene and the need to simulate a range of cyber testing scenarios. 

Given the fundamental importance cyber resilience plays in the broader context of maintaining firms'/FMIs' operational resilience, it is a top priority for regulators.  Disruptions from cyber resilience can impact financial stability, cause significant harm to consumers or other market participants, or disrupt market confidence.