Mastercard uses its cybersecurity expertise to
support Canadian small businesses lacking resources and
tools to defend against increasing cybercrime.
TORONTO, Sept. 20,
2023 /CNW/ - Cybercrime in Canada has increased over 600 per cent since
the start of the pandemic and small businesses are particularly
vulnerable. Ahead of Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2023, Mastercard
surveyed small business owners across Canada who said they struggle to invest in
cybersecurity tools that would best protect them due to limited
resources and lack the know-how to effectively recover once a cyber
attack occurs.1
In our connected world, the value of any business is
increasingly tied to data. A cyber breach can cost small businesses
money and a loss of trust.
Yet, just 16 per cent of Canadian small business owners surveyed
feel certain they know the best steps to take following a cyber
attack and only 18 per cent are totally confident that their
business would recover fully from an attack in the next six months.
The reality facing small businesses in today's digital landscape is
that cyber attacks are not a matter of if, but
when—and what next?
"At Mastercard, we go beyond protecting the transaction, by
integrating new thinking and approaches into the foundation of our
innovative cybersecurity products and solutions to safeguard an
evolving ecosystem," said Aviva
Klein, Vice President, Digital Payments and Cyber &
Intelligence at Mastercard in Canada. "Given our global expertise in cyber
and intelligence, Mastercard is committed to transferring knowledge
to Canadian small businesses – the backbone of Canada's economy - so they can scale
cybersecurity capacity, protect their data, and maintain trust with
customers—even after a cyber attack occurs."
Expanding Cyber Preparedness and
Securing Trust for a More Prosperous Future
Maintaining and rebuilding consumer trust is critical to small
business recovery following a breach. According to Mastercard's
recent study, data protection measures (57%), accountability (53%)
and transparency about past cyber incidents (52%) rate among the
highest factors that influence Canadian consumers' perceptions of
small business security and trustworthiness. A robust and
transparent cybersecurity plan is essential for small businesses to
uphold their reputation and maintain long-term resilience, even as
cyber threats increase and evolve.
To help Canadian small businesses start securing their business,
Mastercard and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business
(CFIB) have partnered to deliver the Cybersecurity Academy, with
short lessons and free tools tailored to the needs of small
businesses. Mastercard also offers a range of free tools and
insights via its Small Business Cybersecurity Hub to help owners
and entrepreneurs understand cyber risk, effectively defend against
cyber threats and create effective, actionable plans for swift
recovery.
In October, Mastercard and Digital Main Street are
partnering to release a tailored video course to educate small and
medium enterprises on cybersecurity by leveraging Mastercard's
cyber experts and Digital Main Street's knowledge to protect
against cyber risks.
Empowering Diverse Small Business
Owners with Cyber Skills
All small business owners face barriers to cybersecurity
preparedness and recovery, but those challenges can be magnified
for owners and entrepreneurs from diverse and underrepresented
populations.
The Mastercard research found that women small business owners
in Canada are less likely than
their male counterparts to feel confident in the cybersecurity
tools they've implemented (27% vs. 37%) and to feel confident that
their businesses would fully recover following a cyberattack (46%
vs. 53%). To expand Canadian women's skills and leadership in
cybersecurity, Mastercard proudly partners with the Rogers
Cybersecure Catalyst at Toronto Metropolitan University
to deliver the Mastercard Emerging Leaders Cyber
Initiative (ELCI): a unique leadership program for women and
non-binary leaders who seek to advance into executive-level
positions in cybersecurity or related fields.
Although systemic barriers and cybersecurity capability gaps may
be larger for diverse small business owners, Mastercard research
also reveals that certain underrepresented groups are particularly
inclined to explore new cybersecurity solutions. Take Indigenous
small business owners, for example, who are significantly more
willing than average (46% vs. 30%) to adopt innovative security
measures such as biometrics, multi-factor authentication, or token
identification—even if they come at an additional cost.
Fostering this innovative spirit is exactly why Mastercard is
proud to invest in Indigenous entrepreneurs in Canada via a three-year partnership with Pow
Wow Pitch, providing crucial support for digital adoption and
cybersecurity training as a part of its Indigenous Entrepreneur
Bootcamp, as well as funding the Tech Stream of the Pow Wow Pitch
program.
Investing in Canadians to Drive
Global Cybersecurity, Strengthen Communities
Launched in 2020, Mastercard's Global Intelligence and Cyber
Centre of Excellence (GICCoE) in Vancouver, BC, is leading innovation in cyber
and intelligence (C&I), artificial intelligence (AI) and the
Internet of Things (IoT). Research from the GICCoE enhances
Mastercard solutions, combining the biometric security algorithms
with existing cyber capabilities to create new approaches and
solutions for enhancing online security.
Since then, Mastercard has invested over $9 million in Canadian partnerships to support
small business cybersecurity, grow Canada's tech talent pipeline, and build a
more secure, inclusive digital economy for everyone. This includes
investing in early STEM and cyber education for girls and
racialized students via Girls4Tech, Actua and Science World's "Tech
Up" program, as well as scholarships for traditionally
underrepresented students in STEM fields at the University of Victoria, the British Columbia
Institute of Technology (BCIT) and the University of British Columbia. Mastercard also
partners with universities and technical institutes from coast to
coast, including BCIT, the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology,
and the University of New Brunswick
advance cutting-edge cyber and internet of things (IoT)
research.
To learn more about Mastercard's cybersecurity initiatives in
Canada and discover more
cybersecurity research insights, please click here.
About Mastercard (NYSE: MA)
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments
industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital
economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions
safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks,
partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help
individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses
realize their greatest potential. With connections across more than
210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world
that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.
www.mastercard.com
1 Mastercard online survey of 300 small business
owners across Canada and 2,000
Canadians from the general population in Q2 of 2023.
SOURCE Mastercard