Danske Bank Launches SMB Cybersecurity Initiative

Nordic bank Danske is launching an initiative to support its small business clients’ cybersecurity initiatives.

Reports in ComputerWeekly on Monday (May 20) said Danske is rolling out its Technical Support Initiative (TSI) targeting small firms in Denmark. The effort aims to reinforce the IT systems and infrastructure of small to medium-size businesses (SMBs) against cyberattacks.

Following a yearlong research project within the bank, Danske analysts found that an estimated 27 percent of Danish small businesses had fallen victim to a cyberattack, a figure that jumps to 43 percent fo companies with more than 50 employees. Further, bank researchers found about one-third of small businesses do not have access to basic cyber defense technologies or policies.

“A successful cyberattack can paralyze a business completely,” said Danske Head of Business Banking in Denmark Niels Bang-Hansen in a statement. “This is why the senior management of every company, big or small, needs to focus on establishing a plan for how to handle cyber time. We are working with customers to help them protect their operations against financial cyber crime.”

Reports said the bank is also funneling investments in artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies and expertise to promote IT cybersecurity, with a recent collaboration with IBM focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine leaning (ML) that sees Danske adopting IBM’s Predictive Insights AI.

As the bank invests in cybersecurity, it is also embroiled in a money laundering scandal that has so far seen Danish prosecutors file preliminary charges against former executives at the institution; earlier this month officials charged a ninth executive connected to the case. The bank is also facing a lawsuit brought forward by an international group of investors represented by Grant & Eisenhofer, which described the scandal as “one of the most egregious money laundering scandals in history.”

The lawsuit is seeking $475 million in damages for investors across 19 countries, reports said earlier this year.