Katmandu, Nepal: December 15th, 2016- Nepal Bankers’ Association, in co-ordination with Microsoft, convened a gathering of elite Bankers and Financial Services Industry stakeholders including Dr. Chiranjivi Nepal, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank as the Chief Guest, to create awareness and discuss the increasing importance of ‘Cyber Security and Trust in Technology’.
As we are all experiencing the shift towards a more digital world, and we see Governments and Businesses embracing a digital transformation, leveraging the Internet of Things, Business Intelligence and Cloud Computing and taking advantage of digital data in optimizing, transforming, and creating better services for their citizens and customers, Cyber Security and Trust in Technology becomes more critical and relevant than ever before.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Anil Keshary Shah, President of Nepal Bankers’ Association, discussed the threats and consequences of cyber-attacks in banking systems and outlined what steps banks need to take to minimize and manage these threats, particularly in wake of the recent cyber-attacks in South Asia; including Banks in Nepal. He stated that “News of security breaches continues to dominate headlines, and the scale and scope of intrusions are growing. In 2014 alone, data breaches were up by 78% over the previous year, and cyber criminals compromised more than a billion data records in more than 1500 breaches. In a 2014 report for the World Economic Forum, McKinsey & Company estimated the risk of cyberattacks “could materially slow the pace of technology and business innovation with as much as $3 trillion in aggregate impact.
Dr. Astrid Tuminez, Senior Director – Corporate Affairs, Microsoft South East Asia presented on the amazing opportunities made possible by cloud computing in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. But the other side of this innovation is cybercrime, which is becoming more frequent, sophisticated and targeted. Enterprises need to understand cybersecurity and resilience through trusted technology. Dr. Tuminez stated that “The Microsoft Trusted Cloud helps you focus on your core business. You can achieve the benefits of the cloud while knowing that your security, privacy, and compliance needs are being met. We provide cloud services to the world’s leading enterprises and government agencies. Today, the Microsoft cloud infrastructure supports over 1 billion customers across our enterprise and consumer services in 140 countries and supports 10 languages and 24 currencies. With this unique experience and scale, Microsoft cloud services achieve higher levels of security, privacy, and compliance than most customers could achieve on their own. When organizations use the Microsoft Trusted Cloud, they benefit from Microsoft’s scale and experience running highly secure and compliant online services around the globe. Microsoft’s expertise becomes the customer’s expertise.
The program also include a panel session on the subject matter with DIGP Nawa Raj Silwal – Chief CIB Nepal, Ajit Regmi- Deputy Director (IT) Nepal Rastra Bank, Anil Keshary Shah – President Nepal Bankers’ Association and CEO Mega Bank Ltd, Sudesh Khaling – CEO Laxmi Bank Ltd., Bijendra Suwal – CIO Nepal Investment Bank Ltd., Bin Ru Tan – Regional Sales Director, SEA New Markets, Microsoft, Dr. Astrid S. Tuminez – Regional Director for Corporate, External and Legal Affairs SEA, Microsoft as the panelists The session further helped to raise the awareness amongst all the concerned stakeholders about cyber crime, possible risks we are facing and the way forward. The enriched knowledge shared during the program will help to further strengthen the banking sector against such crimes.
