Which? has rated 16 of the biggest UK banks on the security of their online banking systems. How does your bank's online security measure up?
Biometric Solutions match user identity independently of mobile phones, tablets and computers, allowing transportability and safety of digital wallets and credentials across Internet enabled devices
Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Cyber Security, Quantum, Hacks, Fraud Alerts, Risks, InsurTech
PwC Report: Canadian Digital Trust Insights 2021: Cybersecurity comes of age
PwC Canada | Jan 2021
Overview
- Accelerated digitization will continue to be one of the key impacts of COVID-19, but as new business models interact with new technologies, cybersecurity strategies across industries will need to shift to meet changing demands.
- As organizations digitize, getting the most value out of every cyber dollar spent will become even more critical, not just because of our current economic climate, but also because every new digital process can become a vulnerability.
- In the next year, many organizations will increase cyber budgets and add full-time cyber personnel, and they’re looking for a mix of soft skills, such as critical thinking and communication, and technical skills, such as familiarity with cloud solutions.
Just decades after coming out from under IT’s wing, the cybersecurity profession has matured. Cyber teams are now armed with the insight and foresight only experience can provide. And the timing couldn’t be better, as many of the industries, organizations and people they serve are at a pivotal moment.
Our findings from the Global Digital Trust Insights 2021 survey of more than 3,000 business and technology executives around the world, including a significant number of Canadian respondents, tell us what’s changing and what’s next in cybersecurity.
See: Remote Working Cybersecurity Checklist
In brief, organizations’ expectations of their security leaders continue to rise. No longer focused just on technology, although it’s very much in the picture, cyber’s real role now and into the future will be strengthening and increasing the resilience of their organizations.
Reset your cyber strategy
Our survey found that 44% of Canadian respondents (40% globally) say they expect accelerated digitization to be a likely outcome of COVID-19. Many are taking on business strategies they hadn’t imagined before, including e-commerce, new markets, new business models, remote working and automation. And 15% of Canadian respondents (21% globally) are changing their core business model and redefining their organizations.
But as we see new business models interact with new technologies, we’re also seeing the introduction of new cyber risks.
Traditional approaches to cyber just can’t keep up with the pace and scale of digitization. And they’re slowing down business strategies and impacting both the top and bottom line. So it’s really not surprising that nearly all respondents (97% in Canada and 96% globally) say their industry’s cybersecurity strategies will shift as a result of COVID-19.
See: Fintech & Cybersecurity: Key Risks and Solutions
Which of the following changes are most likely to be impacts of the COVID-19 experience on cybersecurity in your industry?
| Canada | Global | |
| Greater resilience testing to account for more low-likelihood, high-impact events | 57% | 43% |
| Cybersecurity and privacy implications baked into every business decision or planning | 55% | 50% |
| More frequent interactions between CISO and the CEO or boards | 41% | 43% |
| New process of budgeting for cyber spend or investments | 39% | 44% |
| Better and more granular quantification of cyber risk | 37% | 44% |
| No changes due to COVID-19 | 3% | 4% |
Level the playing field with attackers
Innovation is changing the cybersecurity game, giving new advantages to defenders and allowing them to level the playing field with attackers. Leading organizations are exploring advanced methods to protect their expanding digital ecosystems. But this isn’t optional—increased adoption of cloud, automation and Internet of Things (IoT) systems means organizations need to rethink their defences, as these systems can’t be protected with traditional IT security methods.
See: SWIFT publishes “Follow the Money” report to aid comprehension of money laundering risks underpinning large-scale cyber-heists
According to our survey, the top three cybersecurity approaches that Canadian organizations have implemented and are currently realizing the most benefits from are security orchestration and automation (19%), modern identity and access management (17%) and integrated cloud and network security (17%).
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Is Digital Banking Safe? Which is safer, Fintechs vs Incumbents?
Which? | Chiara Cavaglieri | Jan 2021
Which? has rated 16 of the biggest UK banks on the security of their online banking systems. How does your bank's online security measure up?
Best banks for internet banking security With so much of our banking now done on our computers and smartphones, it's important that those services are secure. Every year, we rate the security of the online banking and mobile banking services from major banks and building societies. In our latest test, volunteers carried out a series of tasks, while a team of experts from cybersecurity firm 6point6 tested each bank's defences.
See: Fintech & Cybersecurity: Key Risks and Solutions
The table below shows how 16 banks and building societies fared for the main factors we tested in September 2020.
The percentage figures illustrate how important that area of security was to the overall test score.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Stupid
Scott Gallway | Jan 8, 2020
Shadow Government
As our institutions have retreated, private capital has emerged as a shadow government. Banks command our economy, the shareholder class commands the politicians, and big tech reigns over it all. Our idolatry of innovators equates wealth with virtue, and does not hold the innovator class, or their firms, to the same standards as old economy firms (or the general population). Twenty-four hours after a failed coup, the lead story on Twitter is Elon Musk becoming the wealthiest man in the world.
When Trumpism began its march, it wasn’t the government or the media that we turned to for help, but big tech. Today, we plead with @jack to suspend the President’s account. The FBI, voters, our laws … all of them sit secondary to thirty-something innovators who hold the real power: algorithms that decide who sees what, how often, and from whom.
In this rudderless environment, where information flow is not a public good but a revenue stream, is it any wonder that misinformation — call it what it is, disinformation — has taken hold?
What can be done? A virus should be monitored. An epidemic must be cauterized.
See: Should the U.S. Government Create a Token-Based Digital Dollar?
The striking arrogance of our American exceptionalism allowed us to ignore the virus of fringe ideas fueled by algorithms and profit. The sight of a mob overrunning the U.S. Capitol, under the direction of a U.S. President, forces us to acknowledge that we have an epidemic that demands swift, severe action(s). Put another way, putting the President in a social media timeout is insufficient.
We need greater attribution and accountability. President Trump should be stripped of power immediately. The incitement of violence against a co-equal branch of government is grounds for impeachment, conviction, and removal from office by Congress. If he had just one day left in office, Trump would still be a clear and present danger to the republic. More importantly, the first declaration in years that our leaders face consequences for their actions should be in bold type.
If there is any question that big tech is our new government, then register that these are the only entities whose actions seem to have a meaningful impact (or what we view as meaningful). Which has had more impact? Futile discussions about the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, or Facebook and Twitter suspending President Trump’s accounts and Shopify closing MAGA stores? Applaud these actions if you like, but accountability for sedition should not be meted out by private companies (in the case of Shopify, a foreign one). We should not be pandering to part-time CEOs to save the nation they demonstrate no regard for.
Stupid
In The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity, former Berkeley professor Carlo M. Cipolla posits that a stupid person causes damage to others while deriving no gain, or even possibly incurring losses. We invariably underestimate the number of stupid individuals in circulation as the probability that a certain person is stupid is independent of other characteristics or credentials (e.g., they can have a Ph.D. or be President). We (the non-stupid) are vulnerable to the stupid and their actions as we find it difficult to imagine and understand — or to organize a rational defense against — an attack that lacks rational structure or predictable movements. Or, as Friedrich Schiller put it, against stupidity the gods themselves fight in vain.
See: The Success of Canada’s Recovery: Are Investors Ready to Spend?
At a deeper level, we must find ways to reassert the primacy of truth and reason in our discourse. No sooner had the mob been cleared from the halls of Congress than did Representative Matt Gaetz take to the podium to knowingly spread disinformation: that facial recognition determined the mob was Antifa. (It wasn’t.) Elected officials who knowingly spread disinformation should be censured and denied federal and state matching funds for their next election.
We are justifiably concerned about the declining state of math and science education, but it won’t be enough to teach more calculus. We need to teach our kids the tools of science: statistics, critical thinking, and then … civics. Mark Zuckerberg is what happens when you replace civics with computer science. We must also find a way to inculcate empathy and commitment to the commonwealth in the next generation, as the evolution of our economy leads to dispersion and segregation.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Microsoft and Amazon Cloud Services Exposed to Widespread SolarWinds Hack
While the SolarWinds hack primarily targeted in-house infrastructure, the breach has morphed into a multidimensional assault on key computing infrastructure, including cloud services.
The SolarWinds supply chain attack, which was broad in scope and sophisticated in nature and execution, could affect popular cloud-based services provided by key players, including Microsoft and Amazon. This is because the SolarWinds Orion software, widely used for network monitoring, could be deployed in cloud environments.
Under such conditions, it might have privileged access to AWS and Microsoft Azure API keys, Identity and Access Management (IAM) services, and other security credentials.
See: Fintech & Cybersecurity: Key Risks and Solutions
Similarly, compromised Orion software running on in-house environments allows attackers to authenticate against cloud platforms by manipulating the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) to create access tokens.
Hackers targeting cloud platforms and services
Details from the NSA and Microsoft show that the suspected Russian hackers behind the SolarWinds hack were targeting cloud services such as Office 365.
Additionally, Reuters’ reporting claimed that hackers had compromised cloud services on National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Microsoft Office 365 account and monitored staff emails for months.
Similarly, a recent report by Microsoft also revealed that the attackers tried to read CrowdStrike’s emails through a compromised reseller’s Microsoft Azure account.
SolarWinds hack threatens cloud services in myriad ways
SolarWinds hack attributed to suspected Russian hackers threatens various cloud infrastructure such as AWS and Microsoft Azure in several ways.
Firstly, Orion databases store AWS and Azure cloud platforms’ API keys alongside other security credentials. Attackers could later access the stored security identifications to compromise other cloud services.
See: What brings more risk to the world stability than a pandemic? Cyber-attacks!
Similarly, SolarWinds Orion software deployed on AWS or Azure cloud platforms has access to root API keys. These privileges grant an attacker full admin access to the cloud services running on the platform.
Orion software also requires access to Identity and Access Management (IAM) services. Consequently, running Orion software injected with malicious code compromises the whole Orion IAM identity services on the cloud environment. Attackers could exploit the IAM to expose resources and networks and perform role chaining to escalate access privileges.
A resource-based policy allows any principal in the account to access the resource without identity-based permissions in the AWS platform. Consequently, Orion IAM identity could gain access to resources, leading to resource exposure.
Similarly, if a cloud service’s trust policy allows various identities to assume a role, the role could be adopted by any trusted identity residing within the cloud account. This leads to role chaining, which attackers could use to escalate privileges on the cloud platform.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Cyber Risk is the New Threat to Financial Stability
IMF Blog | Jennifer Elliott, Nigel Jenkinson | Dec 7, 2020
Many of us take for granted the ability to withdraw money from our bank account, wire it to family in another country, and pay bills online.Amid the global pandemic, we’ve seen how much digital connection matters to our everyday life. But what if a cyberattack takes the bank down and a remittance doesn’t go through?
As we become more reliant on digital banking and payments, the number of cyberattacks has tripled over the last decade, and financial services is the most targeted industry.
As we become increasingly reliant on digital financial services, the number of cyberattacks has tripled over the last decade, and financial services continue to be the most targeted industry. Cybersecurity has clearly become a threat to financial stability.
See:
Fintech & Cybersecurity: Key Risks and Solutions
Remote Working Cybersecurity Checklist
Cybercrime and Covid-19: Preying on Fear
Given strong financial and technological interconnections, a successful attack on a major financial institution, or on a core system or service used by many, could quickly spread through the entire financial system causing widespread disruption and loss of confidence. Transactions could fail as liquidity is trapped, household and companies could lose access to deposits and payments. Under extreme scenarios, investors and depositors may demand their funds or try to cancel their accounts or other services and products they regularly use.
Hacking tools are now cheaper, simpler and more powerful, allowing lower-skilled hackers to do more damage at a fraction of the previous cost. The expansion of mobile-based services (the only technological platform available for many people), increases the opportunities for hackers. Attackers target large and small institutions, rich and poor countries, and operate without borders. Fighting cybercrime and reducing risk must therefore be a shared undertaking across and inside countries.
While the daily foundational risk management work — maintaining networks, updating software and enforcing strong ‘cyber hygiene’ — remains with financial institutions, there is also a need to address common challenges and recognize the spillovers and interconnections across the financial system. Individual firm incentives to invest in protection are not enough; regulation and public policy intervention is needed to guard against underinvestment and protect the broader financial system from the consequences of an attack.
In our view, many national financial systems are not yet ready to manage attacks, while international coordination is still weak. In new IMF staff research, we suggest six major strategies that would considerably strengthen cybersecurity and improve financial stability worldwide.
Cyber mapping and risk quantification
The global financial system’s interdependencies can be better understood by mapping key operational and technological interconnections and critical infrastructure. Better incorporating cyber risk into financial stability analysis will improve the ability to understand and mitigate system-wide risk.
See:
What brings more risk to the world stability than a pandemic? Cyber-attacks!
SWIFT publishes “Follow the Money” report to aid comprehension of money laundering risks underpinning large-scale cyber-heists
Quantifying the potential impact will help focus the response and promote stronger commitment to the issue. Work in this area is nascent—in part due to data shortcomings on the impact of cyber events and modelling challenges—but must be accelerated to reflect its growing importance.
Converging regulation
More internationally consistent regulation and supervision will reduce compliance costs and build a platform for stronger cross-border cooperation. International bodies such as the Financial Stability Board, Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure, and Basel Committee, have begun to strengthen coordination and foster convergence. National authorities need to work together on implementation.
Capacity to respond
As cyberattacks become increasingly common, the financial system has to be able to resume operations quickly even in the face of a successful attack, safeguarding stability. So-called response and recovery strategies are still incipient, particularly in low-income countries, which need support in developing them. International arrangements are necessary to support response and recovery in cross-border institutions and
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Liquid Avatar and The KABN Network Launch Cloud-based Biometric Identity Verification for Self Sovereign Identity, Digital Wallets and Verified Credentials
KABN | Cara Buckspan | Dec 2, 2020
Biometric Solutions match user identity independently of mobile phones, tablets and computers, allowing transportability and safety of digital wallets and credentials across Internet enabled devices
TORONTO, ON and GIBRALTAR / ACCESSWIRE / December 2, 2020 / The KABN Network together with KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. (CSE:KABN) (the "Company" or "KABN North America"), a Canadian fintech company that specializes in continuous online identity verification, management and monetization in Canada and the US, today announces that its cloud-based biometric solutions will now be available on its digital identity management platform, Liquid Avatar (www.liquidavatar.com) enabling a further layer of identity verification that is independent of a user's device.
"With more traditional services, like healthcare, education, verified purchasing and government services expanding online, we developed Liquid Avatar to allow users to use their verified identity to share what they want, when they want and with whom they want in an easy to use visually-enabled platform," said David Lucatch, CEO KABN North America.
"Our goal is to reduce and, in some cases, eliminate the need to remember passwords or to present physical credentials in an ever expanding digital landscape. We hope to empower users to seamlessly manage their digital lives as easily and effectively as they do conventionally."
As a cloud-based service, KABN's biometric features are not resident on a device and work with a user's mobile phone, tablet, computer or other camera and Internet enabled devices, to pass verified information securely over the Internet, enabling identity to be transportable and connected to a wide range of applications like Passwords, Digital Wallets and Verified Access and Identity Credentials.
See: KABN Network Joins the Trust Over IP Foundation
With Liquid Avatar's Self Sovereign Identity management services, a user can manage and customize their credentials through easy to access "icons," enabling them to store, organize and control their information remotely, increasing potential security and safety in the event that the device is lost, stolen or compromised, and making it easy to share services using their facial recognition or other biometric controls.
Liquid Avatar will work with a wide range of emerging technologies and digital platforms to enable the creation and support of a wide range of services, such as:
Identity Verification Services - Bank Grade Identity and Biometric Verification
Digital Wallet Applications - Crypto and Digital Currencies, Identity, Credentials
Verified Access Credentials - Concerts, Movies, Theme Parks, Senior Living, Sporting and other Venue Events and Facilities
Verified Identity Credentials - Government, Healthcare, eCommerce, Membership, School, Workplace and other
Guardianship Services - In early 2021, Liquid Avatar will enable users to authorize a secondary "guardian" for biometric data access. Ideal for parents that want to protect and authorize certain activities for their children, like education, online gaming, eCommerce and other activities. This service can also be used as a safeguard in cases of emergency allowing an authorized second, biometrically verified person, to access a user's data.
See: Matt Warman’s speech on digital identity at Identity Week 2020
"In the real world, we recognize and verify each other using personal recognition, and document verification and we believe that Liquid Avatar can potentially duplicate this process in the digital world," continued Lucatch.
In the coming weeks, the Company is expecting to rollout a number of key initiatives that will support the creation, management and verification of digital wallets and verified access and identity credentials.
For more information, please visit www.kabnnaholdco.com or www.kabnsystemsna.com or www.liquidavatar.com
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Pulling “Shadow Banking” Out Of The Shadows: FSB Report On March 2020 Turmoil Signals Increased Regulatory Scrutiny Of Non-Bank Financial Intermediation
Mayer Brown | Paul Forrester | Nov 18, 2020
In its recent report “Holistic Review of the March Market Turmoil” (Report), the Financial Stability Board (FSB) notes that “[t]he March [2020] turmoil has reinforced the need to better understand interconnections and amplification channels in the financial system and to consider the nature of vulnerabilities in non-bank financial intermediation (NBFI) in relation to the liquidity stress and the implications of central bank liquidity support, and draw lessons about overall resilience of the NBFI sector.”1 The Report also notes the need “for further work to increase the resilience of NBFI.”2
The Report also notes that “non-bank financial entities – comprising investment funds, insurance companies, pension funds and other financial intermediaries – have different structures and are subject to distinct regulatory frameworks within and across jurisdictions. Their asset share has increased to almost half of global financial assets, compared to 42% in 2008, due to both inflows and valuation increases. One factor behind this increase has been the growth of investment funds, whose assets have expanded from roughly US$21 trillion in 2008 to US$53 trillion in 2018.”3
See: OSFI launches consultation on technology risks in the financial sector (Deadline: Dec 15)
The Report states that “[t]he FSB will coordinate the international regulatory community’s assessment of identified vulnerabilities and the appropriate financial policy response, working closely with standard setting bodies and member authorities. As part of this review, the FSB published a comprehensive NBFI work programme covering the key issues at a high level.”
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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