The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a warning that increasingly sophisticated AI-driven cyberattacks could threaten the stability of the global financial system, raising concerns among regulators, banks and governments worldwide.
In a new report, the IMF warned that major cyber incidents targeting financial institutions could trigger liquidity pressures, solvency issues and wider market disruption.
The organisation said advances in AI are dramatically reducing the cost, speed and complexity involved in identifying and exploiting software vulnerabilities, increasing the risk of systemic financial shocks.
Last month, AI firm Anthropic alarmed governments and regulators after early testing of its forthcoming Mythos model reportedly showed it could uncover vulnerabilities across major software systems with unprecedented speed.
Those so-called zero-day vulnerabilities are considered among the most dangerous forms of cyber risk because developers are often unaware, they exist until attackers exploit them.
Andy Ward, SVP International at Absolute Security commented: “AI in cybersecurity offer huge potential to improve detection, speed up response times, and strengthen defences, However, with emerging AI tools such as Claude Mythos, cyber threats are also becoming smarter and faster. In the wrong hands, it is inevitable that businesses will face increasingly sophisticated attacks. Without robust cyber resilience strategies and real-time visibility, the finance sector risk sleepwalking into deeper vulnerabilities.”
“As businesses race to adopt AI, it is critical that they recognise that prevention alone is not enough. Cyber resilience is the missing link, ensuring organisations can withstand, respond to, and recover from increasingly sophisticated, AI-powered attacks.”
“Attackers are already leveraging AI to accelerate and scale threats, which can lead to major consequences for businesses. Our recent research also shows that nearly one in five organisations experienced operational disruption lasting up to two weeks following a cyber-attack, with the majority facing almost five days of downtime. Cyber defences must evolve with equal urgency, or risk being left dangerously exposed.”
The IMF also highlighted the growing dependence of financial institutions on shared cloud platforms and payment infrastructure, warning that concentrated reliance on a small number of providers could amplify the impact of a single successful cyberattack.
Emerging markets may face heightened exposure due to weaker cyber resilience and fewer available resources, according to the report.
The intervention follows large concern from regulators and policymakers globally. In the UK, cyber minister Baroness Lloyd recently urged businesses to strengthen cyber protections amid fears AI could ‘supercharge’ cyber threats, while Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey warned AI systems could “crack the whole cyber risk world open”.
Stuart Harvey, CEO of Datactics, commented: “If your data is a mess, then security teams don’t stand a chance in the event of a cyber-attack or data breaches. When businesses lack clear structure and visibility over their data, even basic questions become difficult to answer: what was accessed? whose data is affected? and how serious is it?”
“Messy data increases exposure and makes breaches harder to contain. Good security starts with good data discipline, and if you don’t know your data, you can’t protect it.”
Despite the risks, the IMF said AI also presents significant opportunities for defence, with banks increasingly using AI to detect fraud, identify vulnerabilities and improve incident response capabilities.
However, the organisation stressed that resilience, governance and oversight must remain a priority, warning that cyber breaches are ultimately inevitable.
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