Significant Cyber Attacks from 2006-2020

Committing a cyber crime can have serious consequences. In the U.S., a cyber criminal can receive up to 20 years in prison for hacking into a government institution if it compromises national security.

Yet, despite the consequences, cyber criminals continue to wreak havoc across the globe. But some countries seem to be targeted more than others.

Using data from Specops Software, this graphic looks at the countries that have experienced the most significant cyber attacks over the last two decades.

To view the infographic and the full post click HERE. 

Are banks still needed?

Technological change is turning the world of finance upside down  as the clout of payment platforms and tech firms grows and central banks begin to issue their own digital currencies. But can you imagine a world without banks? Rachana Shanbhogue explores the future of banking with Alice Fulwood, The Economist’s Wall Street correspondent, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Patrick Collison, cofounder and CEO of Stripe, Kahina van Dyke, head of digital and data at Standard Chartered, and Jean-Pierre Landau, former deputy-governor of the Banque de France. 

Listen HERE on Economist Radio Podcasts.

The Clearing House urges firms to buy into its real-time system

The Clearing House, the New York based, bank-owned operator of one of only two U.S. payments systems, has been building out the real-time payments system since 2017. The only other operator of a U.S. payments system, the Federal Reserve Board, is also seeking to build a competing real-time payments system called the FedNow Service, but that's not expected to launch until 2023.

The Clearing House has invested $320 million in creating a U.S. real-time payments network, and now it wants businesses to step up and invest in their own technology to use the system.

Read the full article on PAYMENTS DRIVE HERE.

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 14 May)

The latest top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, risk management and much more

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• A future with fewer banks
• How fintech will eat into banks’ business
• Google Pay launches P2P cross-border payments
• Revlon says it has replaced Citi as agent on revolver loan
• Colonial Pipeline disconnects OT systems to silo ransomware IT threat
• Researchers say they've uncovered a massive Facebook bot farm from the 2020 rlection
• Lessons from a Bank Chief Transformation Officer
• Cybersecurity Fosters Competitive Advantage - Security Boulevard
• Artificial Intelligence is the Most Disruptive Technology of the Century
• The Best Malware Removal and Protection Software for 2021
• Cybersecurity: These two basic flaws make it easy for hackers to break into your systems
• How to Accept WhatsApp's New Policy Manually
• BABB Is Building a Mobile Bank on Blockchain Tech — But Sticking With Fiat
• McDonald's Workers Will Strike for $15 an Hour in 15 Cities
• The digital currencies that matter
• 'We cannot stay still': Inside Green Dot's path to BaaS growth
• Traditional banks mirror challengers with new digital offerings
• Pandemic altered consumers' payment patterns; US lags globally in contactless, study finds
• Traditional banks mirror challengers with new digital offerings
• LendingClub Teams With FinTron On Mobile Banking

From our Blog

• Cryptocurrency fuels ransomware payments
• Managing Inflation Risk
• High-Frequency Trading: A Sociologist’s Take
• Robinhood’s Big Gamble

Robinhood’s Big Gamble

In eliminating barriers to investing in the stock market, is the app democratizing finance or encouraging risky behavior? The app gives new investors an easy way to buy and sell stocks. Its founders say that it could help reduce inequality, but critics fear that it will only reinforce the wealth gap.

Read Sheelah Kolhatkar's article in The New Yorker HERE.

High-Frequency Trading: A Sociologist’s Take

For Donald MacKenzie, individuals’ interactions with machines, mathematics and technology in competitive settings – and the risks that may ensue – are subjects of great fascination, whether in financial markets, bitcoin mining or nuclear weaponry.

MacKenzie comes at it not as a technologist, mathematician or engineer, but rather as a social scientist.

Professor Donald MacKenzie weighs the risks of models, algorithms, market concentration and jitter in this article by Katherine Heires and published on the GARP website. Read it HERE.

Managing Inflation Risk

In a constantly-evolving economic environment so full of uncertainty, it’s hard for risk managers to get a proper read on the outlook for inflation. But they can use scenario mapping to evaluate and adapt to such emerging risks proactively, while simultaneously combating bias, extremist thinking and herd behavior in risk management.

Read GARP's article "What’s Next? A Guide to Managing Inflation Risk" HERE.