ECB Cyber Resilience Stress Test Sets New Standard For Banking Security

The European Central Bank (ECB) has launched a groundbreaking qualitative cyber resilience stress test (CyRST) that has redefined the approach toward digital security in Europe’s banking sector. The test assessed how 109 major euro area banks could withstand a severe cyberattack, marking a pivotal moment in strengthening digital defences.

Enhanced Oversight Drives Cybersecurity Investment

The CyRST focused on supervisory scrutiny rather than direct capital penalties, assessing how effectively banks could maintain critical operations and restore systems during a severe cyberattack. Results from the exercise triggered a sharp increase in cybersecurity spending across the sector, which rose by an average of 45%.

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Institutions previously identified as underinvesting relative to their level of cyber risk responded most aggressively, increasing cybersecurity budgets by 81%. The figures suggest the stress test accelerated efforts to address long-standing operational vulnerabilities and strengthen resilience across the eurozone banking system.

Internal Reinforcement And Strategic Shift

One of the most significant changes following the stress test was a reduction in dependence on outsourced IT and cybersecurity services. Payments to external third-party providers declined by 50.1%, while investment in internal group technology services increased by 23.9%.

Banks also accelerated efforts to retire ageing infrastructure, contributing to a 41.2% reduction in critical end-of-life systems frequently associated with elevated cyber vulnerabilities. These adjustments indicate a wider industry move toward greater internal control over operational security and technology management.

Aligning Incentives With Systemic Stability

The ECB’s approach sought to increase supervisory pressure on institutions with weaker cybersecurity preparedness while avoiding more traditional regulatory tools such as additional capital requirements or public disclosure of individual results. According to the findings, the strategy helped reduce broader systemic vulnerabilities and encouraged banks to treat cybersecurity investment as a core operational priority rather than a secondary compliance issue.

Operational And Organizational Gains

Operational improvements extended beyond technology spending. Staff turnover in first-line operational roles declined by 20.5%, helping institutions preserve expertise and improve continuity across cybersecurity functions. Banks also adjusted cyber insurance strategies by lowering deductibles and strengthening financial preparedness for potential incidents. While the number of cyberattacks declined only modestly, the financial severity of incidents decreased significantly following the supervisory intervention.

A Blueprint For Rapid Institutional Change

The stress test is increasingly being viewed as a model for how targeted regulatory oversight can accelerate behavioural and operational changes across critical sectors. Investment increases were most pronounced among banks facing the highest levels of supervisory scrutiny, while institutions under lighter oversight showed fewer changes. The ECB’s initiative reflects growing concern among regulators over the rising scale of cyber threats targeting financial infrastructure and critical systems globally.

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Women Make Up A Majority Of The EU’s Science And Technology Workforce But The Real Gap Is Elsewhere

by News Editor

June 25, 2026

Women now make up the majority of the EU’s science and technology workforce. According to Eurostat, in 2025, more than 81.6 million people aged 15 to 74 were employed in science and technology occupations across the EU. Of those, 52.5% were women, equal to 42.8 million women. The number of women in these occupations rose by 27.9% compared with 2015, an increase of more than 9.3 million over a decade.

On the surface, the numbers resemble progress. However, Eurostat’s category requires context before that figure can be read accurately. The data refers to HRST, or Human Resources in Science and Technology, specifically people employed in science and technology occupations. These are roles where the main tasks require professional or technical knowledge in physical and life sciences, but also in social sciences and humanities. That definition is wider and broader than engineering, ICT, laboratory science, or high-tech research alone.

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Zooming In

The gender picture changes once the data moves from a wider definition of the workforce to the narrower scientist-and-engineer (research and manufacturing) subgroup.

Scientists and engineers represented almost a quarter of all people employed in science and technology in the EU in 2025. Eurostat describes scientists and engineers as often being the innovators at the centre of technology-led development, making them an important subgroup to focus on separately.

Women accounted for only 40.8% of scientists and engineers in 2025, despite making up more than half of the wider category. That share has increased by a mere 0.5 percentage points over the past decade. The absolute number of women working as scientists and engineers rose from 5.3 million in 2015 to 8.2 million in 2025, despite the push from national and international organisations to increase the number of women in the field. Europe has expanded the number of women in science and technology occupations over ten years. However, that expansion has not extended equally into the scientist-and-engineer subgroup, where much of Europe’s research and innovation work is conducted.

In 2025, of the 39.4 million women aged 25 to 64 working in science and technology occupations in the EU, 35.5 million worked in service activities. Only 2.7 million worked in manufacturing. Women accounted for 57.5% of science and technology employment in services, but only 31.3% in manufacturing.

In 2025, the highest shares of women employed in science and technology occupations were recorded in Latvia at 62.4%, followed by Hungary’s Great Plain and North region at 61.1%, Estonia at 60.5%, Poland’s Central macroregion at 60.4%, and Lithuania at 60.3%. No EU country recorded a majority of women among science and technology workers in manufacturing.

Break-down

Eurostat’s figures measure employment in broad science and technology occupations. They do not show job security, pay levels, management roles, promotion rates, research leadership, or whether women are concentrated in junior or senior workplace positions.

The classification of “senior” also requires additional explanation. Eurostat reports that 45.9% of science and technology workers aged 25 to 64 in the EU were classified as “senior” HRST in 2025. In this dataset, “senior” refers to workers aged 45 to 64. It does not mean senior manager, senior researcher, team lead, or decision-maker.

A high female share in the wider Human Resource Science and Technology (HRST) category does not parallel equal representation across scientists, engineers, manufacturing roles, senior posts, pay, research funding, or decision-making. These figures also reflect the occupational mix inside each country or region, not only structural progress across all areas of science and technology.

The Case Of Cyprus

Eurostat data places Cyprus’s overall science and technology employment at 37.2% of the labour force in 2025, slightly above the EU-27 figure of 36.9%, and above Greece at 26.8%, Malta at 33.9%, and Turkey at 18.2%. This figure covers the total share of the labour force employed in science and technology across all genders.

Progress Or Work-in-Progress?

52.5% in the broad category. 40.8% among scientists and engineers. 31.3% in manufacturing. Europe’s gender gap in science and technology hasn’t closed yet, and there is still work to be done to encourage and support more women to enter the field, especially in research and manufacturing.

Let’s not wait another decade for another couple of percentage points of hope.

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