The Banking Lab highlights the importance of investment and education for secure digitalisation

The Spanish Banking and Finance Institute recently held a new Banking Lab session, “Towards secure digitalisation”, which focused on the importance of investment, education and talent amidst the acceleration of digitalisation and the development of Artificial Intelligence. During the session, the speakers highlighted some key ideas:

• Cybersecurity does not just affect national security or large corporations; small and medium-sized companies need to invest in it, and education, prevention and public-private collaboration must be enhanced.
• Cybercrime is on the rise in Spain, despite the existence of highly mature cybersecurity regulations. In 2023, the Guardia Civil received 130,000 reports of criminal acts linked to cybercrime, which represents 1 in 5 crimes. In the coming years, this could increase to 1 in 4.
• The demand for cybersecurity experts is growing, along with the need for specialised education programmes. In the next few years, over 60,000 jobs in Spain and more than 350,000 in Europe will remain unfilled, according to certain studies.
• The banking industry has worked in recent years to ensure maximum security. Security is a key asset, as it enables customers to trust the bank with their data and their money.
• The EU recently approved the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which will apply as of next year, and which reinforces measures aimed at preventing and mitigating cyber threats that may affect banks.

The session was attended by Mayte Ledo, Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, Idoia Mateo, CISO Europe & Corporate at Banco Santander, Juan Salom, head of the Cybersecurity Coordination Unit of the Guardia Civil, and María Abascal, Managing Director of the Spanish Banking Association (AEB).