Germany’s financial regulator BaFin warned Tuesday of the “very big” risk of cyberattacks targeting the financial sector, a threat it said had become “more likely” since Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“The risk that companies in the financial sector will fall victim to cyberattacks or that internal IT security incidents will occur is very big and very present,” BaFin president Mark Branson told a press conference.

In extreme cases, “such incidents could damage the stability of the financial system”, he said.