During the pandemic, the number of data breaches has increased drastically: cyberattacks targeting banks have even grown by 238 percent. This fraud surge goes hand in hand with the growing use of the mobile and digital banking channels. While this trend had already started before the pandemic, it was greatly accelerated when bank branches closed and the digital channel was the only option. With one in three customers in Southeast Asia having used mobile banking more than they did prior to the crisis, and the shift to digital channels likely to be permanent, it is time for banks to lock-down the security of…

Financial institutions have been moving towards expanding digitisation for years, offering remote banking services, and prioritising the customer experience in digital platforms. In 2020, however, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically accelerated this shift. With less access to bank branches, the mobile and online banking channels became the primary, and in some cases even the only banking options available. Criminals always go where the money is, which is why they have increasingly turned their attention to the mobile channel. The pandemic has driven a massive increase in mobile malware attacks. In 2020, Kaspersky detected more than 5.6 million malicious installation packages,…