Cybersecurity: Staying ahead of cybercriminals

As financial institutions push out more digital products focused on speed and convenience, it creates additional points of vulnerability that fraudsters could exploit online. As a result, financial institutions are also expected to stay agile and deploy the latest technologies to protect their customers. In fact, the Movement Control Order (MCO) period last year presented a case study of what could happen as more financial transactions move online. Globally, a record-high number of scam and phishing sites were detected in 2020, according to Atlas VPN. "Propelled by the pandemic, there has been a significant shift towards digital transactions and real-time payments. This new normal has brought [not only] unprecedented efficiency and convenience but also an increase in payment-related fraud," says Abrar A Anwar, managing director and CEO of Standard Chartered Malaysia.