tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271445872024-03-08T01:03:41.183-08:00Future of Banking and Financial ServicesBy Dr Patrick Dixon - For his MAIN site ( articles / free books / presentations / videos) see link on left to www.globalchange.com (10 million unique visitors)Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-12809752861192792472017-12-13T09:53:00.001-08:002017-12-13T09:53:37.243-08:00Cybersecurity - massively growing risk of cyberattacks and what to do about it - keynote speaker<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
What happens when you combine Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, theInternet of Things, Big Data and Cloud Computing, to the world of banking, telcos, mobile devices and personal computers? </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The answer is the you get the biggest target for criminals that the world has ever seen - all waiting online to be attached and exploited in a billion different ways using little more than a couple of computers, owned by very smart geeks. </span> </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Never in human history has it been possible for one person, sitting in a bedroom at home in a distant land, to create such havoc and chaos, to seize such power.<span mce_style="mso-spacerun:yes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span mce_style="mso-spacerun:yes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span>Cyber-crime will therefore be one of the greatest threats to our world over the next 50 years, and far beyond, into centuries to come.<span mce_style="mso-spacerun:yes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span mce_style="mso-spacerun:yes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span>There is no way back from such a future, except by dismantling all the global e-systems that link us increasingly together.<o:p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
As I predicted many years ago, and have spoken about since in many keynotes on cybersecurity and related issues, every large company in the world is now experiencing frequent cyber-attacks, on their own systems or in the cloud, whether they realize or not.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
(This article is an extract from Patrick Dixon's Futurist book "<a href="https://www.globalchange.com/the-future-of-almost-everything-new-book-by-patrick-dixon.htm" mce_href="the-future-of-almost-everything-new-book-by-patrick-dixon.htm" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Future of Almost Everything</a>"</div>
<h3 style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14px; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
Cyberattacks already cost business over $300 billion a year</h3>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
The Centre for Strategic and International Studies has estimated total cost to business to be around $300bn a year. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span>Losses are likely to be more than $1 trillion a year by 2025, especially if we see wide-scale attacks, sponsored by hostile governments. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
We are not just talking about attacks on traditional targets like bank websites, but also commercial aggression like the blackmail of Sony, after the company released a controversial film about North Korea.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
There is nothing new about web abuse. At least 80% of the 247 billion emails sent every day are spam, many of them so-called phishing attacks, pretending to be from a bank, encouraging people to enter passwords.</div>
<h3 style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14px; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Expect 10 billion separate attacks a year</span></h3>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Macafee is already detecting over 600 million new and different computer viruses, malware or Trojan horses every year – several a second. </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Pharma, chemicals, mining, electronics and agricultural companies are seeing increases of 600% a year in malware attacks. </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Energy, oil and gas attacks are growing by 400%.<span mce_style="mso-spacerun:yes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span>Attempts to steal data from retailers are doubling every 12 months.<span mce_style="mso-spacerun:yes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><o:p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
In many cases, tens of millions of credit card details have been stolen. Target lost data on 70 million people in a single attack. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
A single contractor in South Korea managed to steal personal information on 20 million credit card users, more than half the country’s working population. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Two years previously, personal data on 35 million South Koreans was stolen from Cyworld, a popular social network. </div>
<h3 style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14px; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">3 billion people’s personal details have been stolen</span></h3>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Similar attacks have happened across the world.<span mce_style="mso-spacerun:yes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span>Hackers recently stole personal details of 213 million eBay users.<span mce_style="mso-spacerun:yes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span>Sony lost 100 million client’s details to a hacker.<span mce_style="mso-spacerun:yes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span>The Heartbleed bug caused huge damage in 2014 as it swept globally, invading websites of many multinationals, retailers, <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4797" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">banks</a> and email companies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Another example was a major attack on JP Morgan Chase – following a sustained assault with tens of thousands of separate attacks each day over many months, mostly traced to Russia.<span mce_style="mso-spacerun:yes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span>76 million names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses were stolen – affecting two thirds of all households in America.<span mce_style="mso-spacerun:yes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Most attacks are reported very late, some not at all, and many are never noticed of course.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Yahoo admitted in 2017 that 3 billion accounts were hacked back in 2013, triple the previous estimate they had given.</div>
<h3 style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14px; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Why hackers will often escape prosecution if caught</span></h3>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
I have met bankers who don’t prosecute or even sack staff who hack into their own bank systems. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
“Just thought you should know…. Of course I should probably leak the news or publish the account names.” </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Terrified of bad publicity, they pay them off, give them a wonderful reference, and let them go and work for a competitor – where exactly the same thing is likely to happen again. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
There is no legal requirement in most countries for any bank to report when they have been hacked and data lost, which means that most attacks will never be known, and the true scale is far larger than most people think.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Even the most basic bank security can be pitifully weak. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
I remember shortly before spending a day advising the board of a Swiss bank, I decided to carry out a test of my own. Without being challenged, I managed to walk right into a high-security area using the oldest tricks in the book: distracting reception staff, and gently pulling apart sliding security doors with my fingers.</div>
<h3 style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14px; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
Large <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57" style="color: #cc0000; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">corporations</a> will be forced to encrypt stored data</h3>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
All IT and smartphone companies will step up personal security with end to end <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">encryption</a> during data transmission, and <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">encryption</a> of all data “at rest” stored on servers. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
It is really shocking that most <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4797" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">banks</a> in some nations still do not encrypt data on their servers, so once a hacker gains entry, which they do in every large bank several times a year, they usually have no trouble at all reading files.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
It was very careless of Sony to allow hackers to so easily read all their archived emails, contracts and other documents. Best practice will mean universal encryption.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Customers will be urged to set up two step authentication, with confirmation of passwords using codes sent to mobile devices. As a result, expect dramatic growth in attacks on telco companies and all mobile devices, to try to hack into SMS and intercept these codes. In 2014, such attacks grew more than a hundred times over the previous year.</div>
<h3 style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14px; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
Cyberwar - a new kind of Cold War</h3>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Expect many more significant large-scale cyber attacks against nations and groups of enterprises over the next two decades, often directed by criminal gangs rather than <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=464" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">government</a> staff, paid for by secret agents of other countries. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
The largest of these attacks are likely to form part of next-generation conflicts / disputes between nations, paralysing entire <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=464" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">government</a> agencies for days, causing major disruption to banking and telecommunications, damaging utilities such as power stations or parts of the national grid. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
It is already happening: for example, a blast furnace in a steel mill was hit by hackers in Germany recently, causing parts of the plant to fail. But for understandable reasons, most successful attacks on major installations will be kept strictly secret, in the national interest.</div>
<h3 style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14px; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
Cyberattacks on international data cables, people, companies and nations</h3>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Cyber-attacks are easy to carry out on physical web infrastructure too. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
For example, most bandwidth in the world is carried on a few, very vulnerable, fibre-optic cables. Cutting them is very easy – all you have to do is drag a ship’s anchor along a sea bed to snag them. And it is very hard to detect what ship did it, especially in relatively busy shipping areas. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Recent cable damage reduced web access in India by 70%, Egypt by 60%, with many other nations affected in the Middle East. In another episode, divers were arrested off the coast of Egypt in the act of sabotage.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
For all these reasons, Nato includes cyberattacks as one of the events which could trigger a joint response by the Alliance.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Nations like the UK are very vulnerable since the exact points are well known on maps, where huge data cables run from shallow sea water into the shoreline.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Using mini-submersibles like those the BBC hired to film Blue Oceans II, it is easy to track all data cables into deep ocean, and a work of minutes to cut such them.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
However, it will be almost impossible to prove who is really behind such attacks, and therefore impossible to retaliate effectively. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
The US Navy is being hit on a routine basis by over 100,000 separate online attacks every hour, according to Hewlett Packard. But from where and by whom and for what purpose?</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Sometimes digital debris is left by accident which gives clues about origin – for example naming a piece of code, deeply encrypted inside a complex virus, after a popular TV comedian in a particular country.<span mce_style="mso-spacerun:yes" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span>But subtle clue-dropping can also be a deliberate decoy, used by secret services or gangs to cast blame on an innocent nation.</span></div>
<h3 style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14px; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Viruses designed to control entire countries</span></h3>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Energetic Bear is a cyber-espionage weapon which infected vital parts of Europe’s <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4367" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">energy</a> infrastructure during the Ukraine – Russia – EU crisis. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
It targeted a wide range of industrial control systems, national grids, power stations, wind turbines, biomass fuel plants. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
It was designed to monitor <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4367" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">energy</a> use in real time and to disable systems on command – but on whose command? </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Future <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4367" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">energy</a> viruses will target smart grids and smart homes – imagine the impact for example, if a hacker from a hostile state or group could turn on 15 million air conditioners simultaneously, causing instant power cuts.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
A few weeks after discover of Energetic Bear, Russian <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4850" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">telecom</a> and health companies, utilities and <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=464" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">government</a> agencies discovered that they too had been hit by one of the most deadly and sophisticated clusters of viruses ever created, called Regin. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
The cluster was designed with multiple Apps, to steal passwords, extract information on a huge range of systems, and take total control of many different types of industrial equipment.</div>
<h3 style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14px; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
“Digital bombs” inside large organisations</h3>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Targets were also hit in Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Ireland, India, Iran, Belgium, Australia and Pakistan. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
In many cases, it turned out that the viruses had been working away for up to 6 years without detection, despite every check. The viruses were constantly listening online for a single command to detonate tens of thousands of digital “bombs” across every part of the nation. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
It has been reported that Russia is now so anxious about American penetration, that security agencies are using printed paper for ultra-sensitive communications. The Chinese meanwhile are building a quantum computing link between Beijing and Shanghai, which they hope will lock out foreign surveillance.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
In 2007, Estonia banks, Government agencies, Parliament, broadcasters and newspapers were also hit by three weeks of cyber-attacks which completely paralysed their web capabiliites. These followed a disagreement with Russia, though responsibility was never proven.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
So we will see huge <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3464" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">investment</a> in cyber-resilience, by governments, banks, stock exchanges and utility companies in particular, in the wealthiest nations, but smaller nations will remain very vulnerable. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
At least a quarter of all attacks will be espionage – directed at stealing state secrets or corporate research which has yet to be patent protected. </div>
<h3 style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14px; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
Hackers will be recruited by spies and gangs</h3>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Expect growing numbers of full-time professional hackers, operating as independent consultants to criminal gangs and secret services, offering services in combination with others to plan major attacks. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
In many cases, these hacking geniuses will never realize who the end client really is. They may think they are working for MI6 in the UK for example, but are actually working for a Bulgarian gang, which is assisting Russian Federal Security Services, or for the CIA or Mossad.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Many attacks will be multidimensional in future. So a large scale identity theft takes place a couple of hours before a vital payment channel is hacked, to create new PIN numbers. Minutes later, two hundred people with cloned <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4588" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">cash</a> cards start withdrawing <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4588" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">cash</a> from ATMs in over 50 cities.</div>
<h3 style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14px; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
Hackers will be turned against other hackers</h3>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Expect a radical rethink about what on earth to do with convicted hackers: people with proven genius in cracking open systems, who may well be the best people in the world to test your own security, and help improve it. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Do we really want to waste their lives locked up in prison?</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Some hackers will be offered rewards by governments to attack and destroy the dark web. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
The aim will be to identify many millions of users of Tor web browsers (these are like normal web browsers, but prevent ANYONE monitoring your web activity), and users of other “secret” tools: people who want to keep their activities and payments 100% secret. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Over 400 dark websites were closed in 2014 alone, including sites which sell illegal drugs, illegal arms deals, assassinations of spouses or politicians, and every kind of depravity. </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
However, many dark web users in future will simply be trying to evade “oppressive” state snooping – particularly in countries like Russia or China where web controls have become severe. Use of Tor in Russia leapt from 60,000 to over 200,000 people in just a couple of months following the seizure of Crimea.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Looking for a <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/Phone-/-email-now-for-keynotes-/-events-/-interviews/Phone-or-email-to-discuss-an-event-Patrick-Dixon-Futurist-Keynote-Speaker.htm" mce_href="http://www.globalchange.com/Phone-/-email-now-for-keynotes-/-events-/-interviews/Phone-or-email-to-discuss-an-event-Patrick-Dixon-Futurist-Keynote-Speaker.htm" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">cybersecurity keynote speaker</a>? Patrick Dixon has given keynotes for over 400 of the world's largest <a href="https://www.globalchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">corporations</a> and to governments on a wide range of digital issues including cybersecurity, how to prevent cyberattacks, how to detect cyberattacks and related matters.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-34306861248356076122017-11-16T07:25:00.003-08:002017-11-16T07:25:40.070-08:00Truth about BlockChain, BitCoins - impact on banking, insurance - BlockC...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XoN9szxwZ1o" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />
<br /><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">I have advised hundreds of the world’s largest corporations on digital trends, and one of the biggest that CEOs and boards are now talking about is Blockchain. What is Blockchain and what does it mean for us? Could Blockchain wipe out our business, or will Blockchain help us grow? </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Here is a comment after my recent keynote for the global team of Generali Insurance, on Blockchain.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So what is Blockchain?</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain is a very clever method for making permanent global records, with copies held in many different places, totally safe from corruption, deletion, alteration or cyberattack. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain uses the same technology as BitCoin and other so-called cyptocurrencies. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">BitCoin technology was developed to allow a new “virtual” currency to be created, coin by coin, in a way that is permanent, protected, cannot be duplicated or destroyed. It costs a lot of money, mainly electric power to run computers, to create each BitCoin, so they are rare and have real value. BitCoins are traded against many other currencies. </div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blockchain developed from BitCoins</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">BitCoins are also completely anonymous, and impossible to track when used for online payments, as well as completely secure. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">BitCoins are controversial because the system is so strong, that they are now the payment of choice used by many criminal gangs, for drugs, ransom payments, arms deals and so on.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">The system works because each payment is registered in an ultra-secure database which cannot ever be altered. This means that each BitCoin can only be transferred once. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">If you spend a BitCoin, you cannot spend your same BitCoin again. Once spent, it’s value is registered at the speed of light to another person permanently, using a system that we call BlockChain. Each “block” is an individual cluster of records, and each “Chain” is a time-stamped sequence of blocks.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">But we can use the same registration system for another purpose: to register documents rather than ownership of BitCoins.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Why Blockchain really matters to most industries</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain means that anyone in the world with online access can prove a particular document exists, when it was sent, who it was sent to and so on. We can also prove that an event has taken place, in a way which is fully transparent to everyone who needs to know this around the world.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">The implications of this are going to be huge. And it will be many years before we work it all out. We are at a similar stage with Blockchain that we were with the web in 1997. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">A lot of excitement and speculation, and also a lot of uncertainty about how it will affect us all in practice.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blockchain Boom</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">There is no doubt that Blockchain has the power to completely transform every financial transaction or legal process, every trade agreement, every insurance claim and every supply chain ordering system.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">That is why we are seeing huge investment in Blockchain innovation, inside large companies, and a huge number of new Blockchain startups, especially in FinTech.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blockchain impact on real estate sales</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Consider the complex processes to buy a house. Legal agreements are exchanged and signed. Deposits are made, and then final payments. After this, land ownership records are altered in government archives. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Each of these processes has to be checked and verified to prevent fraud and protect both buyer and seller. Each of these steps can be revolutionized using Blockchain. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">And as that happens, we will find we have new ways to validate these steps – no longer the exclusive roles of banks and law firms.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">A real estate agent could safely handle the whole thing, backed by Blockchain technology. Indeed, buyers and sellers could do far more themselves, cutting costs and speeding up transactions by many days or weeks.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blockchain impact on insurance industry</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Fraud is a major challenge in the insurance industry, and means that in many nations people are paying at least 5% more than they should be, just to pay for these losses. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain could change all that, as well as cut many other costs. Take the auto industry and car insurance. Imagine that every vehicle in the world has its own Blockchain record. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">A global register of your car that contains date of sale, past and current owners, details of every repair, accident or insurance claim. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">We could also create a global register of individuals and their current or past insurance policies, or a global register of all insured businesses and claims.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Automated travel insurance claims driven by Blockchain</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain could mean completely automated insurance: from payment to policy issuing, to triggering a claim, to payout, to confirmation of receipt of payment and closure of the case. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">A traveller could take out insurance against flight cancellation. The flight record is made automatically, and shows that a cancellation did indeed happen. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Within seconds, a payment is triggered into the policy holder’s bank account, before the traveller is even aware that the insurance company has been notified.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blockchain impact on banking and international payments</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain will protect international money transfers. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">I spoke at a global payments conference recently and was shocked to discover how many global payments are still relying on last century tech for tracking – which is why cross-border payments are still so slow and so prone to errors.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blockchain impact on supply chains and manufacturing</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain could revolutionise supply chains and manufacturing, allowing buyers and sellers to be 100% confident about receipt of legally binding orders and payments, issuing of shipping documents, registration for customs and excise, proof of payment of import taxes.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span lang="EN-US">Blockchain in legal firms and accounting</span></h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Legal processes depend fundamentally on proving that certain events have taken place, and in certifying the legal consequencies of those events.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain means that legal firms can prove that documents have been issued and in what form. Signed and dated documents can be authenticated in a global secure register. </div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blockchain in digital forensics, compliance and regulatory processes</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">How do you prove that your digital records are correct? That the date of an email authorizing action on a health and safety matter is the real date and has not been deliberately altered to avoid a prosecution? </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain can be used to permanently authenticate the fact of every email sent and received.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain can be used to validate all investor information, reports, and other important information.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So what happens next with Blockchain?</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Expect to see a huge number of experiments with multiple failures along the way. As with all areas of FinTech, we will see common platforms and systems develop, for different industries, using common standards. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">And there will be quite a fight amongst different companies to get scale and dominance of their own industry.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">The most successful Blockchain companies will become the industrial or legal or financial “Google’s” of tomorrow, with immense influence and power, and systems which are used in many different parts of society.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">The financial rewards will be spectacular for the largest winners in the new Blockchain economy. At the same time, we will see some spectacular failures and scandals. </div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Expect Blockchain and cryptocurrency frauds and scandals</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain is highly complex, depends on sophisticated mathematics and is poorly understood by most small investors or non-technical board members of multinationals. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">BlockChain and cyptocurrencies are both areas open to fraud, misrepresentation and deception on a gigantic scale, and expert advice is needed at every stage before engagement. </div>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-27780688777839700372017-11-16T07:25:00.001-08:002017-11-16T07:25:38.659-08:00Truth about BlockChain, BitCoins - impact on banking, insurance - BlockC...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XoN9szxwZ1o" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />
<br /><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">I have advised hundreds of the world’s largest corporations on digital trends, and one of the biggest that CEOs and boards are now talking about is Blockchain. What is Blockchain and what does it mean for us? Could Blockchain wipe out our business, or will Blockchain help us grow? </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Here is a comment after my recent keynote for the global team of Generali Insurance, on Blockchain.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So what is Blockchain?</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain is a very clever method for making permanent global records, with copies held in many different places, totally safe from corruption, deletion, alteration or cyberattack. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain uses the same technology as BitCoin and other so-called cyptocurrencies. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">BitCoin technology was developed to allow a new “virtual” currency to be created, coin by coin, in a way that is permanent, protected, cannot be duplicated or destroyed. It costs a lot of money, mainly electric power to run computers, to create each BitCoin, so they are rare and have real value. BitCoins are traded against many other currencies. </div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blockchain developed from BitCoins</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">BitCoins are also completely anonymous, and impossible to track when used for online payments, as well as completely secure. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">BitCoins are controversial because the system is so strong, that they are now the payment of choice used by many criminal gangs, for drugs, ransom payments, arms deals and so on.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">The system works because each payment is registered in an ultra-secure database which cannot ever be altered. This means that each BitCoin can only be transferred once. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">If you spend a BitCoin, you cannot spend your same BitCoin again. Once spent, it’s value is registered at the speed of light to another person permanently, using a system that we call BlockChain. Each “block” is an individual cluster of records, and each “Chain” is a time-stamped sequence of blocks.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">But we can use the same registration system for another purpose: to register documents rather than ownership of BitCoins.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Why Blockchain really matters to most industries</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain means that anyone in the world with online access can prove a particular document exists, when it was sent, who it was sent to and so on. We can also prove that an event has taken place, in a way which is fully transparent to everyone who needs to know this around the world.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">The implications of this are going to be huge. And it will be many years before we work it all out. We are at a similar stage with Blockchain that we were with the web in 1997. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">A lot of excitement and speculation, and also a lot of uncertainty about how it will affect us all in practice.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blockchain Boom</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">There is no doubt that Blockchain has the power to completely transform every financial transaction or legal process, every trade agreement, every insurance claim and every supply chain ordering system.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">That is why we are seeing huge investment in Blockchain innovation, inside large companies, and a huge number of new Blockchain startups, especially in FinTech.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blockchain impact on real estate sales</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Consider the complex processes to buy a house. Legal agreements are exchanged and signed. Deposits are made, and then final payments. After this, land ownership records are altered in government archives. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Each of these processes has to be checked and verified to prevent fraud and protect both buyer and seller. Each of these steps can be revolutionized using Blockchain. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">And as that happens, we will find we have new ways to validate these steps – no longer the exclusive roles of banks and law firms.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">A real estate agent could safely handle the whole thing, backed by Blockchain technology. Indeed, buyers and sellers could do far more themselves, cutting costs and speeding up transactions by many days or weeks.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blockchain impact on insurance industry</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Fraud is a major challenge in the insurance industry, and means that in many nations people are paying at least 5% more than they should be, just to pay for these losses. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain could change all that, as well as cut many other costs. Take the auto industry and car insurance. Imagine that every vehicle in the world has its own Blockchain record. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">A global register of your car that contains date of sale, past and current owners, details of every repair, accident or insurance claim. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">We could also create a global register of individuals and their current or past insurance policies, or a global register of all insured businesses and claims.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Automated travel insurance claims driven by Blockchain</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain could mean completely automated insurance: from payment to policy issuing, to triggering a claim, to payout, to confirmation of receipt of payment and closure of the case. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">A traveller could take out insurance against flight cancellation. The flight record is made automatically, and shows that a cancellation did indeed happen. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Within seconds, a payment is triggered into the policy holder’s bank account, before the traveller is even aware that the insurance company has been notified.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blockchain impact on banking and international payments</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain will protect international money transfers. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">I spoke at a global payments conference recently and was shocked to discover how many global payments are still relying on last century tech for tracking – which is why cross-border payments are still so slow and so prone to errors.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blockchain impact on supply chains and manufacturing</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain could revolutionise supply chains and manufacturing, allowing buyers and sellers to be 100% confident about receipt of legally binding orders and payments, issuing of shipping documents, registration for customs and excise, proof of payment of import taxes.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span lang="EN-US">Blockchain in legal firms and accounting</span></h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Legal processes depend fundamentally on proving that certain events have taken place, and in certifying the legal consequencies of those events.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain means that legal firms can prove that documents have been issued and in what form. Signed and dated documents can be authenticated in a global secure register. </div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Blockchain in digital forensics, compliance and regulatory processes</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">How do you prove that your digital records are correct? That the date of an email authorizing action on a health and safety matter is the real date and has not been deliberately altered to avoid a prosecution? </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain can be used to permanently authenticate the fact of every email sent and received.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain can be used to validate all investor information, reports, and other important information.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So what happens next with Blockchain?</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Expect to see a huge number of experiments with multiple failures along the way. As with all areas of FinTech, we will see common platforms and systems develop, for different industries, using common standards. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">And there will be quite a fight amongst different companies to get scale and dominance of their own industry.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">The most successful Blockchain companies will become the industrial or legal or financial “Google’s” of tomorrow, with immense influence and power, and systems which are used in many different parts of society.</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">The financial rewards will be spectacular for the largest winners in the new Blockchain economy. At the same time, we will see some spectacular failures and scandals. </div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #135cae; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Expect Blockchain and cryptocurrency frauds and scandals</h3><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">Blockchain is highly complex, depends on sophisticated mathematics and is poorly understood by most small investors or non-technical board members of multinationals. </div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.15999984741211px;">BlockChain and cyptocurrencies are both areas open to fraud, misrepresentation and deception on a gigantic scale, and expert advice is needed at every stage before engagement. </div>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-77681074561679821662016-05-02T08:40:00.001-07:002016-05-02T08:40:03.949-07:00Future of Marketing, Big Data, Little Data and Mobile Payments - marketi...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IXjOTagyGig" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-47024895932891114052016-02-08T05:49:00.001-08:002016-02-08T05:49:22.739-08:00Future of Banks and Telcos - mobile payments trends - Google keynote by ...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZCksT-2AkAg" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-32607465743490086462015-09-06T13:31:00.001-07:002015-09-06T13:31:55.207-07:00The Future of Almost Everything - join conversation about new book! Keyn...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jGBKiDndnLM" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-8676689154431589002015-04-23T04:35:00.001-07:002015-04-23T04:35:16.604-07:00How 40 seconds can change next 40 years - Future Strategy - keynote speaker<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZoJU5pTpggM" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-51427252223763929642015-03-28T06:15:00.001-07:002015-03-28T06:15:40.436-07:00Future of Payments, Cards, Cash and Banking - ways to reduce banking ris...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yOi9TsJQutI" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-15458838346156358212014-12-04T06:30:00.001-08:002014-12-04T06:30:57.738-08:00Futurist Speaker on Mobile Technology and Banking Customers<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5ETT9FHhYrc" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-55547134677559503582014-11-06T06:43:00.001-08:002014-11-06T06:43:20.405-08:00Future of Risk Management in Banking - steps for every bank to reduce ri...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z-3VY6V5Kns" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-64005939946524009702014-04-23T10:34:00.001-07:002014-04-23T10:34:03.915-07:00Be Futurewise - 6 Faces of the Future - The Cube - Patrick Dixon Futuris...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PJclA4wAmYk" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-22439846188365319342014-03-12T23:56:00.001-07:002014-03-12T23:56:09.601-07:00Next Big Thing: Location-Based Marketing / mobile advertising. Future Of...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Pd7pu6Upe9M" width="480"></iframe>)Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-41968968652615814022014-03-12T04:29:00.001-07:002014-03-12T04:29:59.587-07:00Future of Baltic States, European Union Economic Outlook, Estonia, Latvi...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/o4gy_spm9Bw" width="480"></iframe>)Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-34870727104646275532014-03-11T02:48:00.001-07:002014-03-11T02:48:15.203-07:001 billion future customers: who, where, what. Demographics and Future of...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/aVkh8wEkvFk" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-62775119347091889642014-03-10T06:10:00.001-07:002014-03-10T06:10:18.541-07:00How Mystery Shopping helps better customer experience - Future of Market...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Udnk6303YxU" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-42935675241815087942014-03-04T23:49:00.001-08:002014-03-04T23:49:59.391-08:00Future of the Turkish Economy: Turkey economic outlook, growth, inflatio...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gEEe56Ys4wM" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-45302077856154434352014-03-03T13:12:00.001-08:002014-03-03T13:12:01.810-08:00Future of Banking: Mobile, IT, Technology Partners - Futurist Speaker on...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jJCO6I6swCM" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-11176724177393121292014-02-26T07:31:00.001-08:002014-02-26T07:31:31.929-08:00Agile Innovation and Genius Ideas - Futurist Speaker<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3m4ev8VCVlQ" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-47766580019098270942014-02-25T23:54:00.001-08:002014-02-25T23:54:23.212-08:00Future of London Property Market - House Prices in London - Real Estate ...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/nXhHnZBLbMI" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-19269100576970804412014-02-24T00:22:00.001-08:002014-02-24T00:22:17.325-08:00What next: Inflation or Deflation? Get ready for inflation - Economics F...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/M78lCCa_WqY" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-89514633954528221232014-02-17T01:39:00.001-08:002014-02-17T01:39:39.899-08:00Big Data - vital to every large business. Future of Big Data - Keynote S...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PIlNi9pKM1o" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-19730097570902556602014-01-22T10:37:00.001-08:002014-01-22T10:37:25.856-08:00Customer disasters (funny) - how to avoid them! Improve sales. Marketing...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/tmAxOASer1g" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-38393374250246733862014-01-22T02:15:00.001-08:002014-01-22T02:15:47.132-08:00Economic Outlook for China, Russia, Vietnam, rest Asia. Global Economy k...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Q7KrYB1_gJo" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-84577874074810851652014-01-22T00:53:00.001-08:002014-01-22T01:27:43.217-08:00Global Economic Outlook, impact of emerging markets - Global Economy co...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/v7WA3MuIH4s" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
Impact of emerging markets on growth of global economy. Economic outlook for
EU, US, Asia and Latin America and why business leaders in developed nations
often have a distorted view of true global economic growth and future economic
recovery. Keynote conference speaker
Patrick Dixon, lecture on global economy and business travel for American
Express (Amex) and TAP Moscow. Why we
need to focus on China and countries like Vietnam. Why news media are unrealiable guide to the
truth about global economic growth.
Beyond the downturn, predicting timing of global recovery. Risks of inflation, deflation, boom and bust,
double-dip recession, and impact of rapid changes in interest rates, actions by
central banks, stimulating money supply, printing money, quantitative easing –
but the fact is that the entire global economy grew thoughout the huge economic
crisis of 2008-2013, and the crisis had very different impacts on countries
like India or Portugal. Expect
spectacular growth of aviation and rail travel in emerging economies such as
China and India. The irresistible human
desire to travel, explore, and gain new experiences will underpin consistent
global growth in travel and tourism, despite new carbon and aviation
taxes.</div>
Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27144587.post-22509389577215660512013-02-06T04:04:00.001-08:002014-01-22T01:27:17.252-08:00Future of Telcos and Banking - why business models broken by new mobile payments<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9V-ZRaoVKjc" width="480"></iframe>Patrick Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502347538023164141noreply@blogger.com0