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European lenders are working to cut off their Russian businesses from their main IT systems to mitigate the risk of cyber threats emanating from Russia after it invaded Ukraine, Bloomberg has reported. 

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Commerzbank is preparing to block its Russian arm out of its IT systems and has the ability to quickly disconnect systems via a “kill switch”, sources familiar with the matter said. 

Another source said that Deutsche Bank is relocating its essential IT tasks out of Russia to other locations. 

French banking major Societe Generale has asked its employees to take extra care in online communications, the publication reported citing an internal memo. 

Notably, BNP Paribas has already blocked its Russian team from its internal systems. 

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led the US and its NATO allies to impose unprecedented financial sanctions on Russia, cyber threat has become a major cause of concern for banks. 

By blocking Russian units out of their systems, banks seek to prevent cybercriminals from assessing their local networks that can be used as access points.

As per the report, Deutsche Bank claims to have recorded “increased cyber attacks” since the war started last week, which operates a tech centre in Russia with a team of nearly 1,600. 

Both Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank are based out of Germany and plan to shutter their Russian operations, which will take some time and therefore leaves them exposed for now.