David Cameron said cyber-hackers pose a "real threat" to the City of London, as he prepared to strike an "unprecedented" deal to tackle network attacks with Barack Obama in talks at the White House today.
Transatlantic war games will be staged to test resilience, starting with assault on Wall Street and London's Square Mile.
The simulated attacks will target some of the largest institutions in the financial sector, including the Bank of England and a number of commercial banks.
A cyber-cell of British and American intelligence and security agents will be created as part of the agreement being backed by the Prime Minister and US president.
Pressed on the vulnerability of the City, Mr Cameron told reporters: "It's a real threat. This figure, that eight out of 10 of the larger companies in Britain have been attacked, is significant.
"We've seen in the Square Mile some very large attacks - I think there was one case where it cost a firm over £800 million. So there have been some very serious attacks.
"There's no need for a panic about this because Britain is in a very strong position. With GCHQ we have got one of the most expert bodies in cyber-security anywhere in the world. What we need to do is to bring together our knowledge and the US knowledge and make sure - as we are - we work with companies across the country to enhance their cyber-security."
"I'm confident we are one of the most advanced countries in terms of these capabilities, but there is always more you can do."
It comes as a report by government listening post GCHQ warns the computer networks of British companies are under attack on a daily basis by hackers, criminal gangs, commercial rivals and foreign intelligence services.
President Obama is toughening up the American response in the wake of the embarrassing and damaging North Korean hack on Sony Pictures and the infiltration of Pentagon Twitter and YouTube sites.
Under the plans GCHQ and MI5 will join forces with NSA and FBI to turn an American cyber cell into a transatlantic operation, to improve information sharing about threats.
A new generation of cyber-agents will be trained up and a new Fulbright Cyber Security Award created to allow the most talented researchers to carry out research placements for up to six months.
Ahead of the meeting in the Oval Office, Mr Cameron said: "Just as we have worked with our closest ally, the US, to protect our people and our countries from traditional threats, so we must work together to defend ourselves from new threats like cyber-attacks.
"This is an evolving threat which poses a real risk to our businesses and that's why we're taking our co-operation with the US to an unprecedented level. This is about pooling our effort so we stay one step ahead of those who seek to attack us.
"The joint exercises and training of our next generation of cyber experts will help to ensure that we have the capability we need to protect critical sectors like our energy, transport and financial infrastructure from emerging threats."
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