Maintaining a sufficient level of cash in circulation and processing is vital for maintaining civil order in the event of a cyber attack or system failure, a cybersecurity expert has said.
Andy Farnell, director of research and education at Boudica Cybersecurity, told The Epoch Times that maintaining cash as a viable payment system enhances societal resilience against cyber threats, because “cash requires no power.”
“It can remain indefinitely in active circulation and be processed by hand and eye,” said Farnell, a computer scientist specialising in signals and systems with 20 years of expertise in the industry.
Farnell said that cash could help serve to undergird confidence in the critical two- to five-day period after an event such as a system outage.
Cash ‘Necessary Part of the Machine’
“In the long term, cash may help us through longer periods of uncertainty,” he added.The cybersecurity specialist explained that in the past, particularly pre-1970s, “economies ran on cash without bound. Anything that has happened is proof that it can happen again.”
He said that while that “would not be desirable by any means,” it would not be impossible for cash to stabilise a medium-term outage lasting many weeks or months.
“However, the challenge is not with longevity but with scale. Electronic banking systems are the only practical way to deal with large sums and huge throughput needed to run a modern economy. Cash is simply a necessary part of the machine,” he said.
UK’s Neighbours Strengthening Cash
The committee also heard arguments that maintaining strong cash circulation was important during times of crisis, such as power and internet outages and cyber attacks, and that those considerations should also be taken into account.![A branch of Lloyds Bank in the City of London, on Oct. 20, 2014. (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F02%2F13%2Fid5809504-Lloyds-Bank-600x400.png&w=1200&q=75)
CrowdStrike
Cash advocates have also pointed to non-hack related cyber incidents such as the CrowdStrike outage last summer—which affected aviation, banking, and health care services—as reasons to maintain a healthy circulation of cash.Farnell said that CrowdStrike taught us the dangers of relying on dominant suppliers and monopolies.
“Do not trust in single systems with single points of weakness,” he said.
Farnell calls for a balance of technologies to maintain a secure payments ecosystem.
“Digital innovation does not require the destruction of extant, proven technology. The new must be overlaid on top. Robust technology is hybrid, plural, compatible, and built on diverse interoperability,” he said.
“Integrate cash and digital systems. No split, separate systems,” he added.
Indeed, some systems that are working to protect cash are still innovating. Sweden’s Riksbank said that while it wants cash protected, it is also still developing the e-krona, a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Mandating Cash Acceptance ‘Seems Wise’
Asked whether he thought cash was being maintained at a sufficient level to act as a reliable buffer when digital systems are down, Farnell said, “Yes, in circulation.”But he continued, “Not in processing.”
“Bank branch closures and disappearance of physical [point of sale] ’tills’ is a worry,” he said.
![A banking hub in Axminster, Devon, England, on May 26, 2024. (Victoria Shaw/PA Wire)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F02%2F13%2Fid5809508-Banking-hub-600x400.png&w=1200&q=75)
Following pressure from the government and cash advocacy groups, major banks have agreed to fund community shared banking hubs, to ensure continued access for people and businesses.
Farnell said, “We must ensure a basic level of habitual capability, recognition, and social acceptance of cash as a common financial tool.”
No Plans to Regulate Cash Acceptance
In January, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds told the Treasury Committee that the government has “no plans to regulate businesses to compel them to accept cash, big or small.”“Businesses should have the flexibility to offer the choice in payments that they think their customers need, and we are not minded or we don’t have any plans to regulate to force businesses to accept cash,” Reynolds said.
She stressed that the government’s payments vision must be “fit for the future,” with innovation and technology central to it, but that the government remains committed to the access to cash regime, through its promise to support banking hubs.
The Treasury Committee inquiry into cash acceptance is ongoing.