Financial Services Advisor

John deCraen, senior director for Alvarez & Marsal’s Global Cyber Risk Services: “Given the proliferation of ransomware and target-agnostic type cyberattacks, it isn’t accurate to say any one global region is less secure than any other. However, it is fair to observe that Latin America and the Caribbean have disadvantages to securing financial institutions that more developed regions don’t suffer to the same degree. The most observable disadvantage would be the lack of awareness among the public, but more specifically, among financial institution employees and their leadership. Recent engagements have taken me to both the Caribbean and South America, and I witnessed a lack of basic awareness to the threats or even the slightest employee behavior modification. This communication vacuum just isn’t seen in the West or across Europe and appears to be a byproduct of leaders who seem unable to accept the risk, their own vulnerabilities or the need for change. Likely the least-discussed disadvantage is the poor support from government organizations. Like Europe, Latin America seems enamored with privacy but…”