G7 Finance Leaders Agree to Hold Tabletop Exercises Against AI Cyberattacks

Finance ministers and central bank governors of the G7 advanced economies agreed on the sidelines of the IMF's annual gathering in Bangkok to hold tabletop exercises simulating AI-driven cyberattacks, Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Thursday. A Japanese finance ministry official who attended the meeting said the simulations will test how G7 finance authorities respond to AI-enabled cyber incidents, with the findings used to evaluate existing protocols and revise response manuals. The exercises by G7 finance ministries and central banks could also include private financial institutions depending on the nature of the simulations, according to the official. The agreement followed an International Monetary Fund warning this week that an AI-enabled cyberattack on a critical service of a financial institution could undermine market confidence, alongside warnings from the Bank of England's deputy governor on Thursday that banks can no longer assume their defenses are immune to AI-enabled cyberattacks and are working on deep cyber-recovery options.