Bank of America Moves to Buy MDSec in Global Cybersecurity Push

Bank of America plans to enhance its cybersecurity capabilities in the United Kingdom and globally by acquiring England-headquartered information security specialist MDSec Consulting Limited.

The bank expects the transaction to be completed during the fourth quarter, subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals, it said in a Thursday (July 30) press release.

MDSec employs about 65 cybersecurity professionals and provides “deeply technical information security-related consultancy services,” according to the release.

Bank of America already has a presence in England with more than 1,400 employees and a cyber threat operations center located in Chester, per the release.

“We have long admired the exceptional ability of the MDSec team and are delighted that Bank of America and its clients will now further benefit from their work,” Bank of America Chief Information Security Officer Kris Fador said in the release. “We look forward to welcoming the MDSec team to Bank of America as we continue to enhance our leading cybersecurity capabilities in the U.K. and globally.”

MDSec Co-Founder Dominic Chell said in the release: “From the outset, our ambition has been to build world-class security capabilities and to push the industry forward. Joining one of the world’s leading financial institutions, one that reflects our culture of innovation and technical excellence, gives us an incredible opportunity to take that ambition to the next level.”

It was reported July 16 that Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan joined other Wall Street executives expressing concerns about the security risks posed by artificial intelligence models, especially Anthropic’s Mythos system.

In an interview broadcast on Bloomberg Television, Moyihan detailed the operational requirements AI tools impose on financial institutions.

“It is a big change in the amount of work that will have to go on and the pace [at] which these tools will affect vulnerabilities in your systems, and how fast you have to take care of that,” Moynihan said. “We are all working hard on it.”

It was reported July 17, when Bank of America named a new head of platforms AI transformation, that the bank is concentrating on expanding its use of AI tools.