Tech Talk: Trusted transactions, embedded finance, ATM infrastructure, and more!

• Rethinking ATM infrastructure
• Stopping Crime-as-a-Service
• 30,000+ organizations newly hacked
• More fintech for the consumer loans market
• Trusted transactions: biometrics, ML, and AI
• Embedded Finance: The end of the fintech?
• Are smartphones displacing payment terminals?
• Crypto Bank: Bogus or inevitable?
• Mobile payments super app
• Spam, Scams & Breaches
• Updates, Patches & Alerts
• and on the lighter side...

Rethinking ATM infrastructure
The pandemic has accelerated ATM changes. To stay relevant and competitive, banks must find innovative ways to guarantee ATM availability. One-time PINs, QR codes, and mobile divice access are transforming customer interaction with ATMs and reducing risk at the same time. ATM Marketplace has the details.

Look to Banking as a Model for Stopping Crime-as-a-Service
The first step toward prevention is understanding the six most common CaaS services. The threats are evolving and the approach taken by banks can help point the way to dealing with these threats. Dark Reading has the details.

30,000+ organizations newly hacked
Globally, hundreds of thousands of organizations running Exchange email servers from Microsoft just got mass-hacked, including at least 30,000 organizations in the United States. Yes, those numbers are correct. Krebs on Security has the details.

More fintech for the consumer loans market
Fintern, a UK-based fintech startup, is aiming to shake up the market for low-value consumers loans with the launch of credit technology that bypasses credit scores in making lending decisions, focusing instead on affordability. Finextra has the details.

Trusted transactions: biometrics, ML, and AI
The pandemic has increased the appetite for e-commerce and contactless payments, and biometrics and artificial intelligence are playing a larger role in securing those transactions. has the details.

Embedded Finance: The end of the fintech?
Non-finance brands are already embedding financial products and services into their apps and ecosystems. Over the next couple of years we're going to see an explosion in Embedded Finance applications - and that is going to be accompanied by a shift in perceptions about fintech, innovation, and the future of finance. Finextra has the details.

Are smartphones displacing payment terminals?
It is now widely known that smartphones can be used as a payment method using Near Field Communication (NFC) protocol. But a number of headlines have recently brought a different use case to the financial services community: the possibility to use a smartphone in “reader” mode, as a contactless payment terminal. And to enable it, end-users would just have to download a “Soft POS” app. What's a Soft POS app? Read on. Finextra has the details.

Crypto Bank: Bogus or inevitable?
A major international bank announced the launch of a crypto trading platform which will also enable the issue of digital tokens backed by assets and a custodian service for digital asset storage, meaning there is an intention to create a full-fledged crypto bank. Finextra has the details.

Mobile payments super app
How easy is it for other banks to get access to your customers? In India, Icici Bank says one million customers of other banks have started using its iMobile Pay app just three months after it opened up the service to the general public. Finextra has the details.

Spams, Scams, and Breaches

• FinTech Futures: Flagstar Bank suffers data breach as employee data posted online
• Threatpost: TrickBot Takes Over, After Cops Kneecap Emotet
• Dark Reading: Molson Coors Beer Operations Halted by Hack
• SecurityWeek.Com: Hackers Breach Cameras at Banks, Jails, Tesla and More
• Threatpost: Nim-Based Malware Loader Spreads Via Spear-Phishing Emails
• Dark Reading: Malware Operator Employs New Trick to Upload Its Dropper Into Google Play
• Finextra: European Banking Authority hit by cyber-attack
• Threatpost: Sprawling Cyberattack Breaches Several Airlines
• TechRepublic: How vaccine-related phishing attacks are posing a greater threat to organizations
• Threatpost: Fake Google reCAPTCHA Phishing Attack Swipes Office 365 Passwords

Updates, Patches, and Alerts...

• US-CERT: Current Activity
• SecurityWeek.Com: Apple Patches Remote Code Execution Bug in WebKit
• TechCrunch: Apple releases important iPhone, iPad, Mac and Watch security patches
• SecurityWeek.Com: Vulnerability That Allows Complete WordPress Site Takeover Exploited in the Wild
• Threatpost: Adobe Critical Code-Execution Flaws Plague Windows Users
• SecurityWeek.Com: Adobe Patches Code Execution Flaws in Connect, Creative Cloud, Framemaker
• Dark Reading: Microsoft Patch Tuesday Fixes 82 CVEs, Internet Explorer Zero Day
• Threatpost: Microsoft Patch Tuesday Updates Fix 14 Critical Bugs
• SecurityWeek.Com: F5 Patches Four Critical Bugs in Big-IP Suite
• Krebs on Security: Microsoft Patch Tuesday, March 2021 Edition
• SecurityWeek.Com: SAP Patches Critical Flaws in MII, NetWeaver Products
• Threatpost: F5, CISA Warn of Critical BIG-IP and BIG-IQ RCE Bugs
• SecurityWeek.Com: Unpatched Flaws in Netgear Business Switches Expose Organizations to Attacks
• Threatpost: Cyberattackers Exploiting Critical WordPress Plugin Bug
• TechRepublic: How cybercrime groups are exploiting the latest Microsoft Exchange flaws
• Threatpost: NanoCore RAT Scurries Past Email Defenses with .ZIPX Tactic
• Help Net Security: March 2021 Patch Tuesday forecast: Off to an early start
• Threatpost: WordPress Injection Anchors Widespread Malware Campaign

See what other current hot cyber and technology topics affecting financial institutions BOL users are discussing in the Technology Forum.

And on the lighter side...

Sometimes, in a design meeting, asking for an expert opinion can help to solve a problem. But not always. The Expert