Guardicore, a leader in internal data centre and cloud security, today announced the launch of its Guardicore Threat Intelligence community resource. Developed by the Guardicore Labs research team, Guardicore Threat Intelligence is a freely available public resource for identifying and investigating malicious IP addresses and domains. With an easy to understand dashboard, Guardicore Threat Intelligence rates top attackers, top attacked ports and top malicious domains, giving security teams the insight they need to research and understand attacks and mitigate risks.

“Based on our deployment and technology Guardicore has a unique view of the most recent threats that are targeting servers in the cloud and in data centres. As a company we believe in giving back to the community and contributing where we can to the benefit of all. Thus, the Guardicore Labs research team has made its data and research available for the public,” said Pavel Gurvich, Co-founder and CEO, Guardicore. “With the launch of Guardicore Threat Intelligence, the cyber security community now has the opportunity to benefit from the same insights leveraged by Guardicore to protect its customers. Busy security teams can now benefit from a trusted, freely available resource that allows them to keep track of potential threats and enjoy unique analysis specific to data centre attacks.” 

Guardicore Threat Intelligence Features

Guardicore Threat Intelligence is currently the only publicly available community resource to focus exclusively on data centre attacks. Specifically, it includes data not available in other public feeds, including the role of IP addresses in specific attacks and detailed attack flow, providing context for attacks on Internet-facing servers with a single aggregated view. Security analysts, threat hunters, and incident response or forensics teams can leverage Guardicore Threat Intelligence as an aggregated source to verify threats, understand attack patterns, and update IoCs quickly, eliminating the need to check multiple feeds and accelerating the time to response. Ultimately, Guardicore Threat Intelligence can help defenders anticipate future attacks and mitigate risks. Guardicore sources data from its Guardicore Global Sensors Network (GGSN), which streams early threat information to Guardicore Labs’ team for new attack identification and analysis. 

Availability & Contributions

Guardicore Threat Intelligence is freely available now at https://threatintelligence.guardicore.com. Contributions are welcome. Guardicore Labs invites the cybersecurity community to contribute to its Threat Intelligence knowledge base by submitting data, asking questions and collaborating with Guardicore researchers on additional findings.

Guardicore Labs

Guardicore Labs is a global research team, consisting of hackers, cybersecurity researchers and industry experts. Its mission is to deliver cutting-edge cyber security research, lead and participate in academic research and provide analysis, insights and response methodologies to the latest cyber threats. Guardicore Labs helps Guardicore customers and the security community to continually enhance their security posture and protect critical business applications and infrastructure.

Creators of Infection Monkey, a popular open-source network resiliency test tool, Guardicore Labs’ high-profile threat discoveries include the Hexmen multiple attack campaigns targeting database services, the Bondnet botnet used to mine different cryptocurrencies, Operation Prowli, a traffic manipulation and cryptocurrency mining campaign, and Butter, a brute force SSH attack on Linux machines that leaves a backdoor to deliver a Samba payload. To learn more visit Guardicore Labs. 

The deployment of Consumer Device Cardholder Verification Method (CDCVM) solutions across the payments ecosystem is increasing. EMVCo is therefore working to promote confidence and consistency by identifying and addressing specific security, functional and performance needs for CDCVM.

With traditional Cardholder Verification Methods (CVM), consumer authentication is performed on the merchant system (a PIN entered into a merchant device, for example). The growing use of mobile devices for payment transactions has enabled consumer authentication to be performed specifically on the consumer’s own device, via passcodes, passwords and patterns, as well as through biometrics such as fingerprint, iris, voice and facial recognition. This type of authentication on a consumer device is known as CDCVM. Additionally, when multiple payment applications on the device share the same CDCVM and the associated result, it is referred to as Shared CDCVM. 

As CDCVM is very different to traditional CVM, EMVCo has developed a dedicated process to evaluate the security of CDCVM solutions and has defined industry best-practices to address functional and performance considerations:

·         EMV® CDCVM Security Requirements and Security Evaluation Process – to help promote protection from fraud across the consumer and wider payments ecosystem, it is imperative that solution assets (such as a user’s biometric or password) be adequately secured. Also, the delivery of results must not be manipulated, falsified or exploited, and the solution must not be maliciously abused, disabled or bypassed. To support these objectives, EMVCo has published CDCVM Security Requirements and has established a Security Evaluation Process to help ensure CDCVM solutions maintain certain minimum levels of security, including mechanisms and protections designed to withstand known attacks.

·         EMV CDCVM Best Practices – EMVCo has defined guidelines for functional and performance behaviours to promote a consistent user experience and global interoperability.

EMVCo actively engages the payment community in developing, enhancing, and evolving future specifications and related testing processes.

In particular, EMVCo has been collaborating with the FIDO Alliance since 2016. As part of this collaboration, EMVCo shared a number of CDCVM use-cases for payment which the FIDO Alliance took into account when incorporating User Verification Caching into the FIDO specification. EMVCo continues to liaise with the FIDO Alliance to ensure that the FIDO Alliance Biometric Certification programme covers the EMVCo high-level performance objectives. CDCVM solution providers are encouraged to evaluate the performance of their solutions using the FIDO Alliance Biometric Certification programme. 

To stay informed of the latest EMVCo developments and receive advanced access to EMV Specifications and related documents, join the EMVCo Associates Programme or become a Subscriber.

To learn more about CDCVM, please read the Q&A that is available for download from the EMVCo website.

Simplicity, security and ubiquity sit at the very core of some of the most progressive innovations of our generation. These innovations have challenged the notion of, “that’s how it was always done” to lead to transformational “can’t live without” products and services that have made our day to day experiences better, faster and more convenient. Just 10 years ago, you couldn’t have imagined a world where your car ride or your morning coffee could be customized and delivered to you with the tap of your finger. At Mastercard, we’ve worked with a number of payment and technology partners and have been behind a number of these types of innovations such as: development of token services; immersive shopping; Mastercard Track – a global trade platform and financial tool for gig workers. 

We believe consumers want more of this type of thinking – intuitive, thoughtful and creative solutions to enhance their transactions. People are looking to newer technologies to have an impact on their lives. In the past year alone, new-technology mentions on social media increased 30 percent.

And today, we’re proud to introduce yet another first.  Together with Apple, one of the great consumer brands in the world and Goldman Sachs, a prestigious institution in the financial services industry, we’re launching the first ever Mastercard Digital-First card. The technology behind it and the product itself is the first of its kind. Unlike the way in which cards have been traditionally issued, this Digital-First card will literally arrive in your digital wallet first before it arrives in your mailbox (optional). Using revolutionary security features like TouchID or FaceID, it takes seconds to authenticate and is ready for the cardholder to tap, swipe and check out – instantly. According to a recent study, 68 percent of those who have loaded a debit or credit card to a mobile wallet indicated they expect to make 50 percent or more of their in-store purchases using a digital wallet within two years.

A card like this is not only convenient but it’s also the pathway to opening up new ways to pay for things that you didn’t think possible. Imagine tapping your way through a toll booth or a take-out window or imagine tapping your way onto the metro instead of using proprietary cards or tickets. In fact, we’re already integrating this technology to a number of transit systems around the country including Los Angeles, Boston, and Denver. And new transit solutions are expected to be live in more than 20 markets in the United States including New York City within the next few years.

At the core of both these announcements is our token services and M Chip technologies that help store the card on a digital device without exposing important details and also enable fast contactless payments – making the commuter experiences fast, simple and secure. Mastercard brought token services to Apple Pay in 2014 and late last year announced its strategy to enable token services on all cards by 2020.

These are just a few of the examples of how we’re connecting the dots, thinking creatively, enhancing transactions and creating frictionless user experiences that never compromise on security, simplicity and ubiquity.

Designed to recognize genuine, truly innovative and meaningful approaches to excellence in the North American insurance arena, the Insurance Nexus Awards 2019 will be presented at an exclusive ceremony being held in Chicago on September 12^th, 2019.

Given the depth and pace of innovation taking place within the insurance industry, Insurance Nexus decided it is crucial to put a spotlight on the achievements of the insurance carriers, leaders and brokers driving lasting change and demonstrating excellence in their field.

"It was an incredible honor to be recognized in last year’s Insurance Innovation Awards,” said Allstate’s Glenn Shapiro, president of Allstate Personal Lines. “As I mentioned when receiving the award, the Allstate Claims team deserves the credit. This was a testament to their relentless focus on innovation and customer experience and the achievement was a tremendous source of pride for Allstaters across the enterprise. Awards that celebrate innovation are so important to our industry. I encourage everyone to take part and share their success stories.”

There are 15 categories of awards, recognizing teams and leaders from across customer, claims and innovation units, as well as from product, business, brokering and leadership positions. Nominations open March 15^th, closing May 17^th, with Finalists announced by Insurance Nexus on June 17^th. Finalists will be selected by a judging panel of industry experts, including:

• Paul Carroll, Editor-in-Chief, Insurance Thought Leadership
• Karlyn Carnahan, Head of P&C Insurance, Americas, Celent
• Karen Furtado, Partner, Strategy Meets Action
• Dawn LeBlanc, Managing Director, Hartford InsurTech Hub
• Scott McCormick, President, Connected Vehicle Trade Association
• Margaret Resce Milkint, Managing Partner, The Jacobson Group
• Anthony O’Donnell, Executive Editor, Insurance Innovation Reporter
• Nicole Cook, Managing Director, Global Insurance Accelerator

“We were incredibly honored to have won ‘Insurance Carrier of the Year’ in the Insurance Nexus Canadian Awards” said an Aviva Canada representative on their success last year. “To be recognized by our peers in this way is especially gratifying and a wonderful way for the industry to show its continued support for disruptive innovation. AI-adoption can seem like a long road but awards like these are essential to celebrate and inspire the innovators and pioneers taking insurance into the future!”

The Awards offer the prestige of being recognized by the global insurance community, as well as a platform to network and find out about the very latest tech, mindset and innovation adopted by likeminded companies. More information can be found on the awards website: https://events.insurancenexus.com/awards/, or please get in touch with Emma Sheard.

Emma Sheard

General Manager
Insurance Nexus

Phone: +44 (0) 207 422 4349

Email: emma.sheard@insurancenexus.com

TurnKey Lender, a provider of intelligent lending automation, decision management, and risk mitigation solutions, announces the launch of a new app called TurnKey Lender Psychometrics. It allows lenders worldwide to safely evaluate borrowers even in cases when there’s no access to their credit history, bank accounts or other relevant personal data. 

The evaluation is done by means of psychometrics, a branch of psychology which helps gauge one’s personal traits in a numerical value. In the heart of the application are TurnKey Lender’s market-leading proprietary AI algorithms and an advanced psychometric test which assesses potential borrowers based on the following criteria: 

• Honesty;
• Family relations;
• Punctuality;
• Responsibility; 
• Money management and financial planning;
• Self-esteem;
• Confidence;
• Trust;
• Likelihood to take risks;
• Organizational skills;
• Consistency;
• Thinking speed.

The app also takes into account borrower’s reading speed, impulsiveness, the range of movements on the answer sliders, whether they stick with the initial answers or change them, and action patterns. 

In the creation of the app, TurnKey Lender’s team used its previous experience developing best-in-class risk evaluation, credit decisioning, and lending automation solutions. The resulting product and the performed tests prove beyond doubt that this app will become a reliable and extremely useful tool in the workflow of any type of lenders who may need an alternative way to evaluate their potential borrowers. 

The completion of a test and risk evaluation usually takes under 10 minutes. As a result, the lender gets a risk score they can later use in loan decisioning. For an additional fee, the TurnKey Lender Psychometrics app can be integrated with other solutions by TurnKey Lender to add another layer of security in the borrower evaluation process. 

If you’re interested in purchasing TurnKey Lender Psychometrics for your lending operation, feel free to reach out to the company’s sales staff for a quote at sales@turnkey-lender.com directly. Or you can get a free demo of the complete TurnKey Lender platform here.  

Digital maturity is still a long way off for financial institutions, according to new research by Fenergo, the leading provider of digital Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) software solutions for financial institutions. The findings of Fenergo’s CLM Report, which is the second in a three-part series, showed that fewer than half (40%) of the financial institutions surveyed are advanced in their CLM digital transformation strategy, with departmental collaboration and difficulty getting buy-in from senior management key prohibitors to change.

On a collaboration scale of 1-10, with 1 indicating working in complete siloes, and 10 meaning fully collaborative, commercial banks performed the worst across the sector with a third of firms (33%) ranking at 5 and below. However, with over 54% of banks stating the lack of single client view is a key pain point for the business, it’s clear that a greater focus on departmental collaboration is required.

Marc Murphy, CEO, Fenergo, said “What often stands in the way of collaboration is the historical growth path of financial institutions. When banks have been built upon revenue streams that are not interdependent, it results in teams that are not required to collaborate. However, collaboration across departments and business lines is a key factor in achieving digital transformation and improving customer experiences.”

The report also highlighted that the UK is the most advanced when it comes to CLM digital transformation strategy with the US lagging behind.

Highlights from the report include:

• The majority of banks (87%) stated the need to get buy-in from senior management across different business areas is a major barrier to improving and investing in CLM
• 88% of chief data officers believe that increasing visibility and collaboration between internal teams would help to alleviate longer onboarding times for clients
• 60% of financial institutions rate themselves as intermediate or beginners in the maturity of their CLM digital transformation strategy. The US is the least advanced out of all the nations, with only 13% claiming an expert level of digital maturity, while the UK is the most advanced (24%), closely followed by APAC (21%)
• One third (29%) of banks have not integrated with a KYC utility or with an external data provider across the customer lifecycle
• 50% of financial institutions believe cost controlling is an issue in the onboarding process
• 54% reported that the absence of a ‘single client view of all data/documentation’ is a challenge when onboarding a new client or moving them to a new product

Fenergo’s CLM report is based on the findings from a global proprietary market survey, which engaged with 250 C-suite executives across commercial, business, investment/institutional and corporate banking institutions. Respondents were based in financial institutions of varying sizes, from 0-500 employees, to those boasting 10,000+ employees, with their primary location of operation spanning UK & Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Asia Pacific and North America. 

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee report on executive pay, ‘Executive rewards: paying for success’ is being published on 26th March. 

In response, Charles Cotton, senior reward and performance adviser for the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, comments:

“It’s high time that high pay is tackled. The growing gulf between pay for top earners and the rest of the workforce calls into question both the fairness and overall performance of our workplaces. Success is a collective achievement and it isn’t right that some top earners take home multi-million-pound packages while pay for their average worker has struggled to improve in recent years. 

“Organisations need to review the best way of rewarding their senior people. They must question whether executive long-term incentive plans are delivering quality and sustainable outcomes for businesses or just driving short-term profits that benefit the few.

“There needs to be a much stronger link between corporate performance and the remuneration of all workers, including those at the top. We want to see a new, broader definition of corporate success that goes beyond profit and loss and also looks at how people are managed, rewarded and developed and how customers are treated. To support this, we welcome the idea of the employee perspective being part of the pay governance process as part of broader reform of remuneration committees.” 

Avaloq, a leading fintech company and international provider of software as a service (SaaS) and business process as a service (BPaaS) solutions to banks and wealth managers, has reported strong results for 2018 driven by continued demand for the firm’s SaaS, BPaaS and on-premise solutions from new and existing clients and accelerated growth in markets such as EMEA. Overall, the firm generated full-year revenues of CHF 579 million, a year-on-year rise of 6% on an underlying basis¹. Adjusted EBITDA for 2018 was CHF 90 million while the liquidity remains robust with cash on hand in excess of CHF 144 million.

Avaloq saw a significant number of successful ‘go-lives’ and new client wins in 2018. In particular, one of Switzerland’s biggest IT projects was successfully completed when 253 separate Raiffeisen entities (246 Raiffeisen banks, six branches and the central bank) moved to one platform developed by Avaloq. The platform is available to all 11,000 employees at 900 separate Raiffeisen sites throughout Switzerland. Separately, KASIKORNBANK, Pictet Group, Deutsche Bank and Edmond de Rothschild all benefited from the successful roll-out of Avaloq’s solutions last year.

New clients won in 2018 included Intesa Sanpaolo, Smith & Williamson in the UK, and China’s Industrial Bank Co. Underpinning the firm’s SaaS and BPaaS strategy, Smith & Williamson further upgraded its relationship with Avaloq by adopting its SaaS solution in February 2019. In December last year, Avaloq announced the development of a highly innovative crypto asset solution in partnership with Gazprombank, the result of a project with Metaco, the cryptocurrency specialist in which Avaloq acquired a 10% stake in April.

The year also saw Avaloq expand its geographic footprint: the share of revenues from EMEA region doubled to 27% – up from 13% in 2017 – and revenues from Asia Pacific increased to 10% while 63% of revenues were generated in Switzerland/ Liechtenstein over the 12-month period. Both EMEA and Asia regions continued to accelerate in terms of market opportunities, and Avaloq has continued to grow its presence with new and larger offices in London, Madrid as well as Singapore and Sydney. In terms of staff numbers, the workforce grew by 8%, mainly in these locations.

Juerg Hunziker, Avaloq’s Group CEO, said: “We continued our strong growth path in 2018 while successfully completing our largest digital transformation project ever, driving forward in terms of international expansion and capitalising on innovation. One of the many things I am particularly proud of is our ability to successfully complete projects of vastly different sizes and scope, from the complete digital and processing transformation of Raiffeisen’s network in Switzerland to more specific solutions for time-boxed projects at banks like KASIKORNBANK in 10 months and Intesa Sanpaolo in nine months.”

New products and solutions, innovations and partnerships

The growth in client activity and sales in 2018 was complemented by new products and solutions as well as a number of innovations and partnerships – with much of the focus on the further growth of the Avaloq ecosystem. The year saw the launch of Avaloq’s open API offering with 150 API endpoints made available to the community, while in October, avaloq.one, the firm’s ecosystem innovation, won “Best of Show” at FinovateAsia.

Avaloq announced a key strategic partnership with IBM to build the Swiss Banking Cloud, which will transform Avaloq’s IT service delivery model, leveraging on IBM’s Infrastructure as a Service offering. The migration of Avaloq’s existing SaaS and BPaaS clients in Switzerland to the new private cloud setup will start in the course of 2019, with the ambition for it then to be rolled out in Asia and EMEA.

Juerg Hunziker added: “The development of avaloq.one showcases the very best of Avaloq and our central role in the digitalisation of the financial services sector. It also future-proofs our business model and consistently gives our clients the finest that the world’s fintech sector has to offer.

“Looking forward, Avaloq’s growth is underpinned by a robust pipeline. As an international leader in fintech and integrated banking solutions, Avaloq is exceptionally well positioned to help its clients succeed in the digital transformation and is increasingly seen as a partner of choice.”

Avaloq reports its results on an IFRS basis consistently from year to year inclusive of all necessary charges, provisions and accruals reflecting the operations of the business. The implementation as of 1 January 2018 of IFRS 15, the new standard for revenue recognition requirements, would improve 2018 adjusted EBITDA by CHF 4 million to CHF 94 million and adjust revenues from CHF 579 million to CHF 576 million.