The Dutch Central Bank has issued an unprecedented warning to the public to keep cash at home due to the risk of cyberattacks from Russia.

Officials are concerned that cyberattacks have the potential to cause massive disruption to digital banking systems and want citizens to have some cash on them as an insurance policy. 

The Dutch Central Bank did not tell clients exactly how much money they should hide at home - but they promised more detailed instructions in the new year.

On Newstalk Breakfast, Cyber Risk International CEO Paul Dwyer said the Dutch Central Bank's alert is a "stark warning".

"It’s not the first of its kind in that we would get constant warnings about the Russian aggressive cyberattacks that are hitting critical infrastructure - especially the financial infrastructure," Mr Dwyer said.

"Ireland is not immune from that - it's the reality of geo-political tensions and the times we live in.

"In this day and age, an aggressive country does not have to drop a bomb to control a country - they can manipulate, control and undermine trust with cyberattacks."

Image shows a mixture of Euro currency notes, coins, calculator, and a pen, Alamy.

However, there is some "good news" on the horizon in terms of protecting digital banking infrastructure, Mr Dwyer said.

"Pre-COVID, we had Christine Lagarde [President of the European Central Bank] warning of a liquidity crisis that could be caused from a cyber attack," he said.

"Based on that, we now have the implementation of the Digital Operation Resilience Act, which becomes law right across Europe from January 17th."

Risk management

This act will introduce targeted rules on digital operation resilience testing and risk management.

Mr Dwyer also described the Central Bank of Ireland as "one of the most competent" banking authorities in the world when it comes to digital protection.

"They have done an excellent job of warning us time and time again when risks [of cyber-attacks] are high," he said.

The Netherlands is not the only country that has encouraged the public to keep some cash at home - Swedish households are told to store enough cash for a week's groceries due to cyberattack fears.

Feature image shows a person taking cash out of a wallet.