Know Your Customer (KYC) isn’t merely a regulatory requirement; it’s the linchpin of financial integrity and security. In an era where fraudulent activities and money laundering schemes are increasingly sophisticated, KYC stands as the first line of defense. It serves a dual purpose: safeguarding financial institutions from becoming unwitting accomplices in illegal activities and protecting the economy at large from financial crimes.

Identity-based threats specifically target the digital identities of individuals and the identity infrastructure of organizations.

In an era of economic fluctuation, companies face increased vulnerabilities both internally and externally, leading to a rise in exploitation risks. The magnitude of this issue is highlighted by the $41 million in global payment fraud losses recorded in 2021, with North America and Europe being major contributors. Projections suggest a worrying trend, with potential losses reaching up to $343 billion by 2027. Addressing this growing concern necessitates a robust fraud risk management approach.

The digital revolution has ushered in a new era of contract formation and execution. In India, the advent of digital contracts, also known as electronic contracts (e-contracts), has been pivotal in the transformation of commercial transactions. These contracts, facilitated by eSign solutions, have become a cornerstone in the realm of e-commerce and online business dealings.

My career began with read-only access. In my first job, I worked night shifts in a data operations center. Our team handled incidents identified either by monitoring or from end customers. This meant I often had to perform first, second and third-line troubleshooting. If we couldn’t identify and resolve the issue, our only option was to wake up a rather exhausted escalation engineer.

The growing frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks, especially on the ransomware front, have compelled even more companies to seek cyber insurance coverage. But as the need for coverage grows, so do the complexities. Even though we’re seeing a trend in which premiums have flattened, with expectations that this will continue as a market correction occurs, significant challenges remain for companies seeking coverage.

2023 was a lucrative year for ransomware actors, with victim organizations paying $449.1 million in the first six months alone. Maintaining this cash stream requires frequent technique shifts, which may be why more attackers are exploiting legitimate software to propagate their malware. Abusing organizations’ existing enterprise tools can help attackers blend in while they’re doing reconnaissance, and also aids them with privilege escalation and persistence.

An identity-based attack is a type of cyber attack that targets and compromises the digital identity of individuals and organizations. In this type of attack, a cybercriminal tries to steal, alter and misuse an individual’s identity-related information such as their login credentials, domain names, personal data or digital certificates.