Financial firms face significant risk from cyberattacks

Toronto-based Bank of Nova Scotia announced on Monday that it’s donating $2 million to the University of British Columbia (UBC) to support research on cybersecurity and financial risk.

The Scotiabank Cybersecurity and Risk Analytics Initiative, which will unfold during the next five years, will finance a series of programs, from internships and speaker events to hackathons.

“Scotiabank’s support will contribute to research and engage students to advance financial modelling to help manage risks and protect customers,” says Michael Zerbs, chief technology officer with Scotiabank, in a statement.

A portion of the funding will also be directed to the Creative Destruction Lab West (CDL West) at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, which backs entrepreneurs at the seed stage to help them scale up their scientific innovations.

“Thanks to Scotiabank’s generous donation, leading UBC researchers can now deepen their knowledge and train the next generation of financial risk analysts and cybersecurity experts,” says Santa Ono, UBC’s president and vice chancellor, in a statement.

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