By ITU News

The FIGI Security Clinic, 4-5 December 2019, will share the Fintech security guidance developed by the Financial Inclusion Global Initiative (FIGI), an initiative designed to advance research in digital finance and accelerate digital financial inclusion in developing countries.

The clinic will present FIGI guidance on topics including the mitigation of security vulnerabilities in communication protocols, digital identity and strong authentication, and security assurance frameworks to increase security across the value chain.

The talks on 4 December will be webcast live. Join online to gain expert insight into:

• The protection of digital financial services from security threats stemming from vulnerabilities in SS7 (Signalling System No. 7)
• Strong consumer authentication technologies linked to digital identity for enhanced security and seamless user experience
• Security assurance frameworks for financial services providers and ICT network operators to manage risks and threats across their systems
• The mitigation of security vulnerabilities in digital finance applications based on USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) and STK (SIM Application Toolkit).

The FIGI Security Clinic is organized by the ITU-led FIGI Working Group on ‘Security, Infrastructure and Trust’.

The working group has investigated Fintech security challenges ranging from SS7 and USSD vulnerabilities to customer authentication, the security of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies, and the impact of Big Data analytics and Artificial Intelligence on data privacy and consumer protection.

The second day of the clinic, 5 December, will host security professionals for a series of tutorials on topics including:

• The implementation of decentralized identity
• Tracking digital Ponzi schemes
• The implementation of Fast Identity Online (FIDO) authentication
• Application security frameworks for providers of digital financial services

1.7 billion adults are still without access to a bank account, but among them, 1.1 billion have a mobile phone. FIGI supports international efforts to capitalize on the ubiquity of digital technology to expand financial inclusion.

FIGI is led by ITU, the World Bank Group and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

FIGI enacts the manifesto provided by the PAFI guiding principles, the Level One guidelines and the ITU policy recommendations for digital financial services.

It consists of two complementary ‘operational’ and ‘knowledge’ work streams.

The operational work stream supports policy innovation in China, Egypt and Mexico, countries with significant potential to form case studies of value to other countries around the world.

The knowledge work stream, enacted by three working groups, advances research in three key areas of digital finance:

1. The relationship between digital ID and financial inclusion
2. Electronic payment acceptance by merchants and their customers
3. Security and trust in digital financial services

FIGI symposia showcase national experiences in promoting financial inclusion and share the latest findings of FIGI’s three working groups.

Learn more about FIGI from the video playlist of the second FIGI Symposium in Cairo, Egypt, 22-24 January 2019.