How MasterCard is preparing Middle East businesses for cyber attacks

In order to help create a safe and secure transaction environment for merchants and financial institutions in the region, MasterCard hosted a mock hack aimed at empowering institutions with the information and know-how required to tackle rising cybersecurity threats.

The hack was organised on the back of MasterCard’s Global Risk Leadership Forum Middle East and Africa 2017 and was a half-day exercise intended to simulate a cyberattack to provide participants with a first-hand experience in dealing with data breaches which are growing ever more sophisticated and frequent.

The mock hack provided an opportunity for participants to understand their particular role in an event of an attack, how and when to enlist assistance and advice, and know the immediate steps needed to be taken to mitigate the impact of a data breach for all impacted.

The sessions were conducted by senior MasterCard employees who specialise in data breach response and information security. Participants were briefed on how to facilitate effective exchanges of cyberthreat information, how to quickly detect active threats and law enforcement.

Ron Green, MasterCard Chief Security Officer, said: “MasterCard has been at the forefront of the fight against fraud for over 50 years, and security and integrity of the payment environment remains our No. 1 priority both here in the Middle East and around the world. Facilitating the information exchange and sharing our cybersecurity insights with merchants and acquirers – who are both critical stakeholders in a payment transaction – will help everyone more effectively deal with cyberthreats and data breaches. The data breach exercise that we hosted in Dubai today is in line with our ongoing efforts to promote best practices in dealing with cyberattacks and to facilitate information sharing.”