Denmark Sets Up Emergency Cyber Defense Fund
Denmark is preparing an emergency reserve bank to fight cyberattacks, with Danmarks Nationalbank pioneering an offline emergency payment system. The system is designed to counter major cyber threats and ensure the continuity of payment services in the event of a massive cyberattack.
The Danish central bank has launched a financial systems security project to establish a Dormant Emergency Bank (DEB) to serve as a robust reserve bank in the event of a cyberattack against a large banking institution or the wider banking infrastructure in Denmark.
The DEB proposal forms a central part of Danmarks Nationalbank’s Emergency Preparedness for Critical Financial Sector Activities in Extreme Scenarios (EP-CFSA-ES) strategic plan announced in December 2025. This plan would enable businesses and the public to continue using payment cards, receiving salaries, and transferring money in the event of a significant cyberattack.
It would provide the Danish economy with an additional layer of cyber protection, according to Ulrik Nødgaard, governor of Danmarks Nationalbank. In the event of a hyper-scale cyberattack paralyzing a major Danish bank, the proposed backup DEB platform solution would activate to ensure Danish businesses and society “continued to function normally” until the cyberthreat recedes, Nødgaard said.
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The EP-CFSA-ES plan envisages DEB operating as a decentralized emergency bank prioritized to secure Danish society’s payment systems against a massive and prolonged AI-driven cyberattack. This level of threat covers attacks that specifically result in the prolonged immobilization of banks’ IT infrastructure, a scenario that could disrupt the ability of Danish consumers and businesses to conduct normal banking transactions.
The plan also includes a Card Payment Contingency (CPC) facility, enabling high street stores to keep trading during cyber-related IT outages. CPC lets consumers pay for goods and services with physical cards and mobile wallets — Vipps, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Dankort, Mastercard, and Visa — for up to seven days.
Now being piloted nationwide, the system is expected to be fully operational at grocery chains and pharmacies by year-end 2026. The CPC system works by letting store payment terminals process and store transactions offline; once reconnected, payments settle automatically with customer banks, Nødgaard said.
For the people most affected by this development, the DEB and CPC systems will mean that they can continue to access essential financial services even in the event of a major cyberattack. This will help to minimize disruption to their daily lives.
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The technical solution developed resolves all the key issues around a significant IT outage, Nødgaard added. As the DEB and CPC systems become fully operational, they will provide an additional layer of protection for the Danish economy.
It will help to ensure the continuity of payment services. The implementation of the DEB and CPC systems is a significant step forward in Denmark’s efforts to protect its financial sector from cyber threats.
As the systems become fully operational, they will help to ensure that Danish businesses and society can continue to function normally even in the event of a major cyberattack. They will be closely monitored and evaluated to ensure that they are effective in providing an additional layer of cyber protection for the Danish economy.
The systems will be continually updated and improved to stay ahead of emerging cyber threats.
