Cyber Attacks – The New WMDs?

“Cyberattacks are likely to eclipse terrorism as a domestic danger over the next decade. … That’s where the bad guys go. There are no safe neighborhoods. All of us are neighbors online.” – FBI Director James Comey, The Guardian

Here are the cold hard facts.

According to Kaspersky Lab, 91 percent of organizations suffered a cyberattack in 2013. That included half of the world’s securities exchanges.

Here in the U.S., we began 2013 with an attack on nine of our largest banks and ended it with a massive attack on one of its largest retailers, Target. In between, it was reported by ABC News that 140 banks were listed as potential targets in the potential cyber-attack campaign known as OpUSA.

Worrying about these kinds of attacks drove cyber security spending globally to a record-breaking$46 billion last year – not to mention the costs of shattering consumer confidence in the safety and soundness of our payments and financial systems.

These cyber mercenaries all have different objectives. Some just want to wreak havoc and create massive inconvenience. Others want to inflict far more damage by stealing consumer data and, ultimately, money and valuables.

No wonder Comey called cyber terrorism one of the world’s biggest threats.

What’s clear, though, is the need for a new roadmap, a new compass and a new approach to fighting the bad guys in our new 24/7 neighborhood. WE need one that we all move in and out of every day with ease, thanks to our connected devices and mobile phones and the cloud and new technologies.

So, who better than former White House Cyber Security and Cyber Terrorism Guru, Richard Clarke, to help us figure out what to do?

The Innovation Project 2014 | Rethinking How We Keep Payments, Commerce and our Financial Systems Safe.

Richard Clarke will lead a 90-minute discussion with six of the industry’s leading experts in data, security and consumer privacy, and challenge them – and us –to think and act differently as we face this new breed of criminal, ready and able to find and exploit any vulnerabilities we may have in the current payments system.

Clarke’s keynote counterparty, Paul Kleinschnitz, GM for Cyber Security Solutions at First Data will tee up the industry perspective with a call to action for a “layered” approach to keeping the bad guys at bay and our ecosystem safe.

One thing’s for sure. While we may know the problem, we don’t yet have all of the answers. And, there’s no one-size fits all solution. We’re thrilled to have some of the best minds in payments and commerce who will share their insights and experiences in protecting their own systems and helping others protect theirs with Innovation Project delegates.

The Innovation Project 2014 | Rethinking How We Keep Payments, Commerce and our Financial Systems Safe.

Panel Keynote Facilitator

Richard Clarke | Cyber Security Expert and Former White House Cyber Czar

Industry Counterparty

Paul Kleinschnitz | GM Cyber Security Solutions | First Data

Discussants

Dave Fortney | SVP | The Clearing House
Shaunt Sarkissian | CEO | Cortex MCP
Jennifer Schulz | President | Experian
Tom Tobin |GM and CTO | Fiserv’s Financial Crime Risk Management Group
George Wallner |Chief Technologist | Loop

This session is scheduled for March 19, 2014

So, join us at The Innovation Project 2014, March 19- 20 and you’ll be better equipped to fight this new threat however and whenever it may appear. This is only one of 10 panel discussions focused on reinventing, rethinking and resetting innovation in payments and commerce.

Get on the list.