Cryptocurrency


Payments in 2016: a pivotal year

With challenges across the board, banks will have their work cut out to keep up with the changing world of payments in 2016. It is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the payments industry as regulation, new technology, major infrastructure overhaul projects and security issues combine to reshape the landscape. According to a […]

Korean stock exchange plans blockchain-powered platform

Korea Exchange (KRX), the securities exchange operator in South Korea, plans to launch a platform powered by blockchain to liven up the off-board trading market. According to The Korean Times, KRX has started “preliminary steps” to introduce the new platform connecting sellers and buyers to trade securities directly. “Though many steps remain before the system’s […]

The force awakens: data science in banking

A quiet revolution powered by the force of data science has begun to deliver significant improvements in many areas including national security, business intelligence, law enforcement, financial analysis, healthcare and disaster preparedness. But are we ready to use the force in banking? Standard Chartered’s global chief innovation officer, Anju Patwardhan, explores the topic. Digital data […]

Mizuho and Cognizant join forces for blockchain-backed record-keeping

Mizuho Financial Group and Cognizant have teamed up to develop a blockchain solution for the “secure” record-keeping of documents among Mizuho Financial Group companies around the world. The agreement is the beginning of Mizuho’s programme to use blockchain for building new work processes for transactions and digital interactions. This engagement will initially focus on New […]

IBM delivers blockchain-as-a-service for developers

Blockchain gets another boost as IBM has made nearly 44,000 lines of code available to the Linux Foundation’s open source Hyperledger Project to help developers build secure distributed ledgers. IBM has also made a range of announcements spanning technology and business consulting to “rapidly advance the use of distributed ledger technology across multiple industries”. These […]

Chainalysis inks deal with Europol and raises $1.6m seed round

Chainalysis, a New York-based cyber security start-up, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) on collaborating to fight online crime. Chainalysis aims to change “negative headlines where digital currencies have been connected to fraud and cybercrime” and is tracking digital identities on the blockchain. The start-up says its software […]

Understanding blockchain and the opportunity for financial institutions

Blockchain has the potential to further disrupt banking in the way that we know it today, transform traditional interbank and even peer-to-peer payments, open up opportunities to replace existing mechanisms for the exchange of financial information, and how customer records are stored and processed.

Caught on the defensive: why the financial sector needs to reevaluate its approach to cyber risk

Contrary to popular belief, the financial sector is now far more aware and better prepared for cyber attacks. The Bank of England’s Financial Stability Report, issued 1 July, states that threat awareness has grown exponentially and the sector is leading efforts to combat cybercrime. Perhaps this isn’t surprising given 90% of large businesses across the sector had suffered a malicious attack over the past year. But what is worrying is that the financial sector is falling into a familiar trap: by focusing so much on defence, it has failed to make provisions for an effective recovery

CBEST will help UK financial institutions lead in IT security

Banks will always be targeted by criminals and cyber attacks have become their most vulnerable attack surface. It isn’t simply about technology. It extends through people and process, and reaches from the central infrastructure all the way out to end users conducting online banking or financial transactions on laptops, tablets or smart phones. Because banks and financial firms have very large and sophisticated systems, this means that end-to-end security is notoriously difficult

Cyber security tops DTCC risk barometer

US post-trade utility the DTCC is reporting that almost half of the respondents in its most recent Systemic Risk Barometer Study cited cyber security as their top concern, making it the single largest fear and doubling its rating compared to just 12 months ago.

Europol takes down botnet in international action

In a joint international operation Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre seized servers said to have controlled the Ramnit botnet that had infected 3.2 million computers internationally. The operation involved investigators from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the UK – which led the operation – along with partners from private industry.

Sharing threat intelligence is challenging the industry, but it’s the only way forward

Protecting your banking infrastructure from cybercriminals is one of the toughest IT challenges in banking. It keeps getting harder, even though banks are working tirelessly to protect both customers and assets. Attacks are growing in size, and new developments such as the Internet of Things mean attack surfaces are growing, as well as the number of endpoints that can be used to launch attacks.

Value of cryptocurrency transactions ‘to half this year’

The value of all cryptocurrency transactions will more than half this year, falling from $71 billion in 2014 to just over $30 billion. The decline was attributable to the combined impact of exchange collapses, Bitcoin theft and regulatory concerns.

The critical 48 hours after a cyber attack

A range of social, political, cultural and economic factors drives cyber attacks. How well banking and financial institutions understand the drivers for an attack and how effectively they respond in the 48 hours following the discovery of an attack has a major effect on the resultant impact.

Cryptocurrencies overcome California legal hurdle – but the battle is not over yet

Digital and alternative currencies, including Bitcoin, can now be used for transactions in California, following the implementation of bill AB129 on 1 January 2015. The new bill is a step forward for cryptocurrencies which have faced tough opposition and scrutiny from global regulators. However, serious doubts about the safety of digital currencies have been voiced by banks.

Bitcoin capitalises on Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping frenzy

Following its success during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping frenzy this year, alternative currency Bitcoin is gaining popularity and could be poised for major growth in 2015. But the currency still has a long way to go before it catches up with rivals such as PayPal, Visa and MasterCard.

Financial innovation in emerging markets

Earlier this month, the Ecuadorian Government announced its plans to introduce a digital currency, the first of its kind globally. In a country where 40% of citizens don’t have a bank account according to The Economist, this has the potential to transform banking and allow companies to gain access to those without a bank account for the first time

Banking on a holistic approach to combating financial crime

Fraud and financial crime are growing substantially in their nature and complexity as we continue to evolve into an ever more connected world. New technologies, particularly the spread of mobile devices, have opened up different avenues of attack for technically sophisticated and well organised gangs of fraudsters and criminals. The social and economic costs of organised crime in the UK alone are estimated to be £24bn, of which £8.9bn are associated with fraud.

Cyber-security top issue for systemic risk says DTCC

Greater information sharing and closer collaboration between the public and private sectors are needed to combat cyber-attacks, which are now the principal concern of the financial services industry, according to the DTCC. A top priority should be the creation of global industry working groups to engage with national regulators on the development of cyber-security regulations that address the real-time and evolving nature of cyber-threats.

Bitcoin needs infrastructure

Besides mounting enthusiasm for Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, momentum is gathering to develop the infrastructure needed to turn what some see as a technology into a universally accepted currency.

Banks have a role to play in crypto currencies

When a new payment system such as Bitcoin arises it tends to be successful “in areas where a need is not being met”, Gottfried Leibbrandt, Swift chief executive told delegates yesterday. He said his fascination with Bitcoin – “both a currency and an innovation” – had not changed in the past 12 months.

Banks’ cyber resilience requires ongoing review against escalating threats

The news last month (June) that the Luuuk malware had snared its first victim, an unnamed European bank, has again highlighted the magnitude of the challenge facing the banking sector. While the reported theft of €500,000 during the course of a week certainly does not break any records, the discovery of what is believed to be a variant of the feared Zeus malware, is just the latest in a line of increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks

Financial services in the firing line for cyber-attacks says ex-CIA chief

“The fastest growing national security threat facing the [US], which also happens to face the financial services industry, is cyber-espionage, cyber-crime and cyber-terrorism” according to a former deputy and acting director of the Central Intelligence Agency, speaking at the SifmaTech conference in New York.

Bank of England tackles “critical” cybercrime attacks

A major new effort spearheaded by the Bank of England and the UK Treasury has been launched to shore up the cyber defences of the UK financial services industry, amid rising concerns that testing has exposed serious unaddressed weaknesses.

Tokenisation may offer antidote to soaring cyber crime epidemic

As the number of cybercrime incidents increases, financial institutions and their corporate customers should take renewed steps to protect their data – including using tokenisation and hosted payments pages, according to a new report by Chase Paymentech.

Breaking bit

Bitcoin is the poster child of the cryptocurrency world, but it’s not alone. Michael Mainelli and Bob McDowell take a look at the real-world implications of the rise of AltCoins

Bitcoin: the indestructible currency?

Despite the high profile media scandals surrounding the demise of the Mt Gox exchange and the Silk Road trading website, Bitcoin is evolving rapidly and will soon present a better, more stable and accountable alternative to the fiat currencies most of us trust and use every day, according to Mark Lamb, chief executive of London-based Bitcoin exchange Coinfloor.

How many sides can you put on a coin?

There are two sides to every coin, but with Bitcoin those sides simply could not be farther apart. Its promise is extraordinary: for those afraid of inflation, it is gold redux, while for those who hate exchange rates, it is a way to pay internationally. For merchants it is a way of avoiding high transaction fees and for former Presidential hopeful Ron Paul, it is the destruction of the US Dollar.

Four steps for denying DDoS attacks

Financial institutions have been battling waves of large distributed denial of service attacks since early 2012. Many of these attacks have been the work of a group called the Qassam Cyber Fighters, which until recently posted weekly updates on Pastebin about the reasons behind its attacks.

One law for the rich, another for …

for a growing number of people, wary of the debasing of currencies through quantitative easing, alternatives such as Bitcoin are becoming more popular.

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