BBVA is opening a global cybersecurity centre in Mexico as part of an alliance with IT services company Telefónica Tech aimed at boosting the bank's defences against a rising tide of security-related threats.
The new site will mirror the bank's existing Spanish cybersecurity hub and will incorporate technologies in artificial intelligence and process automation for the detection and prevention of cyber crime.
Telefónica Tech provides almost fifty services aimed at providing a holistic security response to each operational and business element of the bank, ranging from solutions for the proactive anticipation of threats, definition of operational tactics, strategies to strengthen BBVA's resilience or protection for Data Processing Centres (DPCs).
The two hubs in the Americas and Spain will be staffed by around 200 Telefónica Tech cybersecurity professionals, who will work together with the BBVA team to form one of the largest cybersecurity centres in the financial industry.
Sergio Fidalgo, BBVA's global Ciso, states that "these two hubs specialising in cybersecurity are unique in the financial industry and represent a new step towards protecting our infrastructures with the latest technological advances. Our goal is to be a bank that is increasingly secure and prepared to respond to all types of attacks and to offer the best service to our customers with the best security guarantees in the market”.