FinTech Alliance Philippines and CYFIRMA Collaborate to Help Digital Financial Firms Strengthen Cybersecurity, CIOSEA News, ETCIO SEA

CYFIRMA, the industry’s first external threat landscape management platform company, and FinTech Alliance Philippines, the country’s leading and largest digital trade organization, today announced a partnership to help raise 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 technologies that are revolutionizing the design, delivery and consumption of financial products and services. With increased digitalisation, there is also increased pressure on consumer protection capabilities and resources. According to Statista, a company that specializes in market and consumer data, the number of cyber attacks in the Philippines has grown exponentially during the first quarter of the year, reaching as much as around 1.76 million. However, the country still ranks a low 82nd in terms of cyber security preparedness, according to a global security index.

The pandemic has seen an unprecedented rise in online fraud, and the low cybersecurity maturity among businesses could reverse gains in 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 online safe habits and knowledge will exacerbate income and wealth inequality. This collaboration between FinTech Alliance Philippines and CYFIRMA is designed to build a digital financial ecosystem resilient to cyber threats and digital risk, laying the foundation for a sustainable, inclusive and thriving FinTech industry.

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

CYFIRMA and the FinTech Alliance will also work together to raise cyber security preparedness among the 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 cyber security awareness, CYFIRMA will also extend its cyber education mobile application, DeFNCE, to all members of the alliance.

CYFIRMA and the 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 deployed in service to corporate clients, to the vibrant FinTech community in the Philippines. We know that the unbanked and underbanked have security concerns around digital financial services, particularly around identity theft, fraud and fraud . We are honored to have the opportunity to use our knowledge of digital risk monitoring and protection to help up-and-coming FinTechs build cutting-edge products that are cyber-secure 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’ safety, security and trust in digital financial services must be primordial. Stakeholders must strengthen constructive dialogue in cyber and vulnerability detection, attack detection and increase digital risk protection, among other things. Our partnership with CYFIRMA is central to supporting this strategic initiative,” said Lito Villanueva, founder of FinTech Alliance Philippines.