The headline-making Equifax data breach in 2017 prompted many financial services companies to take a long, hard look at their data vulnerabilities.

By Troy M. La Huis, CAMS, and David R. McKnight, CISSP

November 26 — Given the spate of major data breaches in recent years, you’d be forgiven if you’d forgotten about the incident involving Equifax that occurred just over a year ago. But nearly 150 million people were affected in that breach, which was just one more example of how companies must adapt to a changing world.

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By Ryan Zlockie

Consumers are bringing change to banks.

Once seen as just a collection of local branches, banks are embracing new, digital touchpoints to satisfy evolving customer demands. According to a recent report, more than half of all U.S. consumers prefer an omnichannel experience when banking. But as consumer touchpoints continue to expand, such as the advent of mobile peer-to-peer services, a new question is poised to emerge. How can you maintain high security standards while also meeting needs of modern consumers?

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Despite gains, cybersecurity remains critical.

By Michael Scheibach, Contributing Editor

Some 12 billion records are expected to be compromised globally by cybercriminals this year. That’s a pretty incredible number. Now try this: In 2023, just five years away, more than 33 billion records will be stolen — an increase of 175 percent. As if that’s not bad enough, more than 50 percent of data breaches in 2023 will occur in the United States. The reason? Consumer and corporate data are maintained by a wide range of institutions with disparate safeguards and regulations, making it easier for cybercriminals to exploit systemic weaknesses. So says Juniper Research in its new report, “The Future of Cybercrime & Security.”

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New York, N.Y. // www.firstdata.com

Growing at nearly 40 percent annually, the dark web is approaching a $100 billion industry — and the fraudsters driving that growth are becoming more sophisticated and successful in their attacks. In response, First Data released FirstSense, a solution integrating threat intelligence with First’s existing detection and transaction authorization engine, with the goal of enabling financial institutions to identify payment cards at risk and prevent fraud before it happens.

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October 24 — The 2018 Unisys Security Index surveyed more than 13,000 consumers in 13 countries, including more than 1,000 in the U.S., in August and September of this year. The index gauged their attitudes on a wide range of security-related issues, calculating scores from 0 to 300 based on concern about eight specific topics within the categories of national, financial, internet and personal security.

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