G7 finance leaders agree to simulate AI cyberattacks after IMF warning

Following AI-driven cyberattacks, finance leaders and central bank governors from the G7 advanced economies have agreed to launch specialized tabletop exercises to test and strengthen their defense against the malicious activities across the financial sector.

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said, “signed off at the ministerial level, the G7 finance deputies had been discussing the idea of doing tabletop exercises on frontier AIas policymakers increasingly seek to coordinate responses to growing cyber security risks.

The plan will feature simulations evolved by G7 finance authorities to test how they can respond to AI-driven cyber-attacks, said a Japanese finance ministry official who attended the finance leaders' meeting.

The agreement was reached during meetings on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual gatherings.

The decision follows recent warnings from the IMF and central banks (such as the Bank of England) that AI-enabled cyberattacks pose an escalating threat to financial stability, potentially undermining core operations and public confidence in major institutions.

G7 finance ministries and central banks will develop simulated attack scenarios involving frontier artificial intelligence to evaluate how authorities and institutions respond.

Depending on the specific scenario, the exercises may also loop in private financial institutions and major banks to test end-to-end recovery readiness.

The primary goal is to use the results of these simulations to test existing safety protocols, update response manuals, and close gaps in cross-border financial cybersecurity.