Cyber Week, AI Week, and FraudCon all came together in 5 days of learning and sharing for thousands of cybersecurity experts, industry leaders, diplomats and others from 99 different countries. The events were chock-full of thought-provoking topics, from the rapid evolution of AI to the complexities of online fraud and how to disrupt it.
The EverC team played an active role as speakers and panelists, and also gained ideas and inspiration that will enrich our continuing efforts for safer ecommerce.
“The best part of taking part in the conference for me was hearing about all the critical and interesting parts of fraud that exist and how much is being done to fight them,” said Alana Herbst, EverC transaction laundering expert. “We often live in our own world thinking largely about what we do, but FraudCon reminded me how much fraud is out there. And while it seems daunting to tackle it, I see how much good there is from those of us in the industry ready to take it on.”
This collaborative attitude echoed throughout the events.
Here are our highlights from Cyber Week 2024 and AI Week:
Alana was featured in a panel called “Stop Terror Financing: What Aren’t We Doing Yet?” to discuss the phenomenon of terror financing, which has proliferated with cross-border and online access. Panelists agreed that the fintech industry can move quickly to lead enhanced monitoring and faster detection of terror financing methods, emphasizing that it needs to be a global effort.
“We can now see that anyone who has access to the internet can be a terror financier.”
Trust no one! Technology’s role in fighting fraud
EverC risk expert Maya Shabi attended an “exceptional” session on leveraging technology to gather insights into online scams.
Various experts in analytics and data science presented case studies related to outbound/inbound phone calls, revealing how a financial institution could flag an interaction as a scam based on behaviors, such as length and cadence of the phone call, how long it takes to log into an account, how long the caller stay logged in, and money moved during and after the call.
Maya was interested to hear how tech companies can work with not only financial institutions but also integrate with seemingly unconnected industries in order to fight fraud.
How AI has impacted online hate and harm
Maya Shabi also spoke on a panel entitled “Tech vs. Hate: Combatting Online Anti- Semitism.” The discussion revolved around how to make the world safer when state-sponsored cyber forces use social media to their advantage to spread hate, cause harm, or control the narrative.
Panelists delved into the latest technology, evolving trends, and tools that individuals and companies can use to take action against these threats. AI presents a significant challenge by “supercharging the ability of bad actors to conduct fraud, spread disinformation, and exploit crisis situations for their own gain”
“It’s extremely difficult to determine authenticity of a website, its content, or users in the online space. What is real?”
The discussion ignited critical questions about how to close the gap between AI-driven capabilities and sufficient regulation and enforcement, and what methods could be used to introduce more accountability for AI platforms.
Working together to solve a global problem
EverC risk expert Anna Pogreb valued the community learning aspects of Cyber Week, AI Week and FraudCon: “The sessions topics are as diverse as fraud itself – from terrorist financing to money laundering to transaction laundering to ads laundering. But what makes this week unique is the fact that it’s a community event, an opportunity to meet your former or future colleagues, your friends, your peers, catch up or catch new ideas.”
Online fraud continues to be a global problem, but experts are ready to tackle it! The theme of collaboration and expertise sharing that resonated through these events will continue to inspire our team – and others around the world – to make the internet a safer place.
