FinTech Alliance Philippines and CYFIRMA partner to help digital financial firms strengthen cybersecurity

FinTech Alliance Philippines and CYFIRMA announced a partnership

The day when the calendar showed the date 03-11-22,CYFIRMA which is the industry’s first external threat landscape management platform company, and FinTech Alliance Philippines, the country’s leading and largest digital trade organisation, announced a partnership. The announced partnership would help to elevate cybersecurity maturity while promoting digital innovation to create growth opportunities and accelerate financial inclusion.

The Philippines’ financial landscape is rapidly evolving with the rise of digital banks, open finance, and other financial technology revolutionizing the design, delivery, and consumption of financial products and services. There is added pressure on consumer protection capabilities and resources with the increase in digitalisation. According to Statista, a company that specializes in market and consumer data, the number of cyberattacks in the Philippines has exponentially grown during the first quarter of the year, reaching as much as around 1.76 million. The country, however, remains at a low ranking of 82nd when it comes to cybersecurity readiness, according to a global security index.

The pandemic has seen an unprecedented increase in online scams and the low cybersecurity maturity among businesses could reverse gains from promoting trust and confidence in the use of digital platforms. The pandemic’s disproportionate impact on the poorest and most vulnerable combined with the lack of cyber-safe habits and know-how will exacerbate income and wealth inequality. This collaboration between FinTech Alliance Philippines and CYFIRMA is designed to build a digital finance ecosystem that is resilient to cyberthreats and digital risk, and it lays the groundwork for a sustainable, inclusive and thriving FinTech industry.

In this collaboration, CYFIRMA and FinTech Alliance Philippines will advocate for a security-by-design approach in software development where security practices are applied at the earliest stage of the development lifecycle, and this underscores the importance of identifying security vulnerabilities through real-time and continuous monitoring.

CYFIRMA and FinTech Alliance will also work together to uplift the cybersecurity readiness amongst members of the Alliance. This includes ensuring members are equipped with digital risk protection tools to help them stay safe from cyber risks such as phishing, ransomware, and identity and data theft.

To improve digital and cyber literacy among the community as well as to address the lack of cybersecurity awareness, CYFIRMA will also extend its cyber education mobile application, DeFNCE, to all members of the alliance.

CYFIRMA and Fintech Alliance will also explore other collaborations such as joint training programs with academic institutions and regulatory engagement with government agencies.

“We are excited to extend our market-leading cybersecurity capabilities, which we have used in service of enterprise customers, to the vibrant FinTech community in the Philippines. We know the unbanked and underbanked have security concerns around digital finance services, particularly around identity theft, scams and fraud. We are honored to be given the opportunity to use our knowledge of digital risk monitoring and protection to help up-and-coming FinTechs build ground-breaking products that are cyber-secured and ready to be deployed at scale to serve millions of Filipinos,” said Anna Koh, Chief Marketing Officer, CYFIRMA.

“Consumer education is also key in cyber defense against identity theft and security breaches. Ensuring our customers’ security, safety, and confidence in digital financial services must be primordial. Stakeholders must strengthen constructive dialogue in cyber and vulnerability intelligence, attack discovery, and increase digital risk protection, among others. Our partnership with CYFIRMA is pivotal in support of this strategic initiative,” said Lito Villanueva, Founding Chairman of FinTech Alliance Philippines.