By Ashok Kadsur, co-founder of SignDesk
Fraud, financial crime, and cybersecurity have long been problem areas for financial institutions (FIs). Fraud and financial crime was a trillion-dollar industry in 2018, with the World Economic Forum (WEF) reporting that banks spent US$8.2 billion on anti-money laundering (AML) efforts alone.
The advent of COVID-19 and consequent trends including large-scale digitization increased demands for digital channels, and a general increase in online presence have all contributed to a rise in cyber threats throughout the pandemic.
Risks for banks have also increased due to a number of factors such as the vulnerabilities inherent to massive automation, increase in transaction volumes, and greater integration between banks and geographies.
The profiles and methods of financial cybercrime have changed to maximize these risks, and banks now need to evolve an improved and holistic approach to mitigate this new breed of threats.
Evolving pathways in cybercrime and finance
Traditionally, banks have had a siloed approach to dealing with the threats of fraud, cyber breaches, and financial crimes.
Fraud has generally been…
