Imagine you are a European futures trader sitting at your desk on a quiet trading day when your phone rings. At the other end of the line someone claims to be from the IT department and requires permission to access your PC remotely to urgently fix a bug. You oblige and pop to the coffee machine in the interim. When you return to your trading terminal a hugely oversized sell order has been sent to the exchange, which subsequently sparks a catastrophic selling frenzy, destabilising the market.

This may seem far-fetched, but it is just one of several possible scenarios that concern regulators as the threat of cyber-crime and terrorism intensifies. "This is not science fiction," said Larry Ponemon, founder of information security think tank the Ponemon Institute. "A cyber-war is happening today."