EAST and FS-ISAC Join Forces to Help Combat Fraud with Cyber Threat Intelligence

Expanded partnership to protect and defend European payments infrastructure

EAST, and FS-ISAC have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) strengthening their sharing of secure payment-related intelligence to battle fraud.

In 2020, average monthly fraud cases reported by FS-ISAC members have increased by 82%.  The latest EAST European Payment Terminal Crime Report, covering the first six months of 2020, reported a 269% increase in ATM malware and logical attacks.  As fraud attempts have skyrocketed during the pandemic and digitization of financial services reaches a point of no return, it is critical for anti-fraud efforts and cybersecurity teams to work together more closely moving forward.

Specifically, the partnership strengthens:

  • operational intelligence sharing
  • anti-fraud and cybercrime prevention initiatives
  • malware analysis
  • strategic partnerships

“The current pandemic has accelerated changes taking place in the financial landscape,” said Lachlan Gunn, EAST Executive Director.  “Financially motivated cybercriminals targeting banks and other financial institutions have reacted accordingly and increasing our collaboration with FS-ISAC is an important step forward in the sharing of intelligence for the industry in Europe and beyond.”

“Accelerated global digitalisation combined with the growing sophistication of cybercriminals demands more sharing and collaboration in the financial sector, both regionally and globally,” said Lucie Usher, Intelligence Officer for EMEA at FS-ISAC.  “This strengthened collaboration between FS-ISAC and EAST will further enable intelligence sharing to better safeguard the European global financial system.”

The partnership was formalised in November during the 3rd EU Financial Cybercrime Coalition (EUFCC) meeting hosted by Europol and FS-ISAC.

ABOUT EAST

The European Association for Secure Transactions (EAST) was formed in 2004 and its remit covers both Terminal Security and Payment Security.  EAST has set up an international network to help improve public/private sector cross-border cooperation in the fight against organised cross-border crime.  Connect with EAST on LinkedIn, follow EAST on Facebook, or talk to EAST on Twitter.

ABOUT FS-ISAC

The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) is the only global cyber intelligence sharing community solely focused on financial services.  Serving financial institutions and in turn their customers, the organisation leverages its intelligence platform, resiliency resources, and a trusted peer-to-peer network of experts to anticipate, mitigate and respond to cyber threats.  Headquartered in United States, the organisation has offices in the United Kingdom and Singapore, and members in more than 70 countries.  To learn more, visit www.fsisac.com. To get clarity and perspective on the future of finance, data and cybersecurity from top C-level executives around the world, visit FS-ISAC Insights.

 

COVID-19 – Cybersecurity Awareness

CybersecurityThe coronavirus outbreak is still a rising issue for many countries and related lock-downs have forced many people into teleworking – working at home, while communicating with their office by phone or email, or using the Internet.  This raises cybersecurity concerns.

Malign actors are actively exploiting these new challenging circumstances to target remote workers, businesses and individuals alike.  It is vitally important for everyone to be fully aware of the threats and to ensure that anything transacted over the Internet is done safely and securely.

To help with this awareness Europol has provided ‘Safe Teleworking Tips and Advice’ for both employees and employers, as well as tips on  ‘How To Make Your Home a Cyber Safe Stronghold’ (available for download in 13 languages).

EAST and Europol have worked together since 2004 and EAST provides secure platforms for public/private sector cooperation in the fight against organised criminal groups engaged in financial crime.  Click here for more information on EAST’s law enforcement relationships.

The EAST Payments Task Force (EPTF) has a specific focus on cybersecurity.  This Group, which meets twice a year, adds value to the payments industry by using the unique and extensive EAST National Member platform and Associate Member network to provide information and outputs that are not currently available elsewhere.

EAST presents at Mastercard Global Risk Leadership Conference

Otto de Jong from ING Netherlands and chair of the EAST Expert Group on All Terminal Fraud (EGAF) attended and presented at the ‘MasterCard Global Risk Leadership Conference – Europe’ in Albufeira, Portugal.  The focus of the event was the sharing of knowledge and best practices on key payment security issues, vulnerabilities, and innovative techniques to mitigate fraud.

On 26 September Otto de Jong (second from right in picture), together with representatives from MasterCard and MacAfee, gave a presentation on Cybersecurity Research Leadership and Cyber Attack Methods.  In his talk he gave an overview of EAST and covered rising card fraud threats from the perspective of the industry (ATM and POS terminal).

The Conference, which ran from 25 to 28 September 2017, was attended by stakeholders from the card payments industry in Europe (Issuers , Acquirers and Vendors).