The Riksbank’s work on cyber risks

Cyber risks are currently seen as one of the greatest threats to the financial systems. The Riksbank's work on cyber risks encompasses coordinating threat-driven penetration tests, participating in exercises and facilitating to maintain financial services vital to society even during peacetime crises and in the event of heightened alert.

The work with coordinating threat-led penetration tests aims to test the cyber security of participants in the Swedish financial system. Such tests have been coordinated since 2019, when the Riksbank decided to implement the Threat Intelligence-Based Ethical Red Teaming (TIBER) framework. The tests can aid significant actors to obtain a better prospect of their capacity to manage cyber risks, thus increasing the prerequisites to strengthen the resilience in the financial system.

Since January 2025, the Riksbank is also coordinating those threat-led penetration tests that certain actors are required to carry out in accordance with the EU regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector (DORA).

In the financial sector regular exercises are also performed, involving scenarios covering various forms of cyber risks. The Riksbank participates in these exercises, which are conducted on both national and international levels.

As of 1 July 2026, there is a crisis management function in place to facilitate coordination in the event of serious operational disruptions in the financial system in Sweden. The function is intended to help ensure that financial services vital to society are maintained during peacetime crises and in the event of heightened alert. Serious operational disruptions include not least cyber attacks and other disturbances in the digital systems. A serious operational disruption in the financial system, where financial services vital to society are incapacitated, may swiftly lead to a severe societal emergency and might in the long run also affect the financial stability. In these cases, the crisis management function is intended to help upheld a stable and efficient financial system and ensure that the public is able to make payments.