Lloyds Banking Group, Hack The Box and Google Cloud Security held a UK financial services security hackathon, bringing together 33 teams from 16 organisations across banking, financial technology, technology and regulation.

Held over two days, the competition tested how participants respond to cyber threats under pressure, with scenarios designed to reflect real-world conditions. Each two-person team was intended to test both close collaboration and technical skill.

Participants tackled challenges in web exploitation, digital forensics, open-source intelligence investigations, cryptography and payment systems security. The exercises also reflected the use of artificial intelligence in both attack and defence scenarios.

The winning team, Nine Lives With Zero Days, included a Machine Learning Engineer and a Senior Penetration Tester. Organisers said the result reflected the growing relationship between artificial intelligence and cybersecurity in financial services.

The exercise also highlighted a broader point for the sector: automated tools may help with repetitive work, but cyber defence still depends on judgement and the ability to assess evolving situations. In financial services, where systems are tightly connected, and incidents can escalate quickly, early decisions can have wide operational effects.

“This event demonstrated how simulated real-life exercises help organisations strengthen defensive capabilities, improve readiness under pressure and build stronger collaboration across the wider financial services ecosystem. In a highly connected sector, resilience depends not only on individual organisations, but on how effectively we prepare and respond together,” said Matt Rowe, Chief Security Officer at Lloyds Banking Group.

The event brought together banks, fintech groups, technology providers and regulators, giving it broader industry scope than a standard internal training exercise. That mix matters in financial services, where firms rely on shared infrastructure, third-party suppliers and payment networks that can create knock-on effects during an attack.

Human judgement

Hack The Box used the competition to argue that cyber preparedness should be measured through performance, not theoretical knowledge alone. The practical format was intended to show how teams make decisions under pressure and how they compare with peers across the industry.

“Cybersecurity is not just about what teams know, it is about what they can do when it matters most. Exercises like this move organisations from static training to proving real-world readiness. They prepare security professionals, test judgment under pressure and benchmark performance against peers across the industry,” Nikos Fountas, Chief Operating Officer at Hack The Box, said.

“As AI becomes more capable, the human element is still critical. It is much like chess. Although machines can outperform humans, people continue to study and play because the value lies in the thinking process – the pattern recognition, creativity and decision-making. In cybersecurity, it is these instincts and the ability to make the right decisions under pressure that ultimately strengthen resilience.”

The focus on artificial intelligence comes as financial institutions face pressure to assess both the opportunities and risks linked to the technology. AI tools can help analysts process data, triage alerts and automate routine tasks, but security teams still need to decide how to respond, what to prioritise and whether a threat actor is changing tactics.

That issue is becoming more pressing as cyber incidents grow more complex and firms integrate AI into their own systems and operations. For banks and payment providers, this creates a dual challenge: defending against attackers who may use AI while also managing the risks introduced by their own AI-based tools.

Sector pressure

The UK financial sector has faced increasing scrutiny over operational resilience and incident response, particularly where disruption can spread quickly between institutions. In that context, practical exercises that test speed, communication and technical judgement have become a bigger part of cyber planning.

The hackathon was intended to reinforce the importance of collaboration across the financial ecosystem, not just within individual firms. Bringing regulators and private-sector groups into the same exercise also pointed to a broader effort to build a more consistent understanding of readiness across the sector.

The winning team described the competition as intense. “We are shocked and thrilled to win, and it has not yet sunk in. The two days have been both amazing and challenging. And the AI challenges were our favorite.”