ZeroBull$ec - Issue #5"Your Cyber Team Is Losing Because It Won’t Talk to Fraud.”

Editors note  

Hey everyone —

October has been a busy month in cyber. From rising AI-driven scams to new exploit waves hitting the financial sector, one thing’s clear: attackers are collaborating more effectively than defenders.

That’s why this week I’m zooming out to look at the growing overlap between cybersecurity and fraud prevention. In too many organizations, those teams still work in separate worlds — even though they’re fighting the same enemy.

Think of it like having two fire departments in the same city, each with its own radio channel, trying to put out the same blaze from opposite sides of the street.

Actually, many would argue this is a terrible analogy as we know that public and private fire departments and ambulances (depending on country) compete for patients, and subsequently revenues. Everything is a cost centre. Sorry I digress and this is getting off point.

The point is managing the risk of technology (which includes cyber) is not a one person or a one person team(s) responsibility.

And because so many believe that it is - is why we continue to fight a losing battle on so many levels.

Collaboration across departments of varying skillsets from technical to analysis, is not only critical it is imperative.

It’s time to sync the channels or at least try.

Cybercrime and financial fraud used to be different oceans.

Now they’re one. Attackers use cyber tools to commit fraud, and fraud proceeds to fund cyber operations.

To be fair it has always been this way,

BUT

the rise of technology and technology tools have made the barriers to entry so much easier.

The bad news? Many institutions still run siloed defences — one team tracks breaches, the other tracks money loss.
The good news (maybe)? Some Leaders are waking up - although we are still doing this way too slowly.

Mastercard’s new report calls for unified “cyber-fraud fusion centres” — a fancy way of saying talk to each other before the criminals do.

Interesting stuff

Stuff to think about over coffee

• 💳 Fraud meets phishing: Attackers increasingly use stolen card data to craft “confirmation” phishing scams — blending fraud with social engineering.

• 🤖 AI deepfakes go commercial: Fraudsters are now renting voice clones to bypass phone-based identity checks.

• 🏦 Banks as data brokers: Internal teams that once focused only on transactions now must monitor access logs and dark web chatter.

• 🔄 New regs, same gap: Regulators like the SEC and EU’s DORA expect integrated reporting — but few institutions are ready.

• 📉 Human factor: Fraud analysts and cyber analysts rarely train together — even though both rely on behavioural pattern recognition.

This weeks myth

Interesting Reading

• Mastercard: One Threat, Two Responses — Why Cybersecurity and Fraud Teams Can’t Stay Siloed

• FTI Consulting: Rethinking Threat Management in Financial Institutions

• The Hacker News Weekly Recap — Exploits, Breaches, and Lessons

• Federal News Network: EPA Deepens Cyber Work with Water Sector

Note: The above links do not necessarily support my views. They are merely information sources that are interesting points of view - some actually I don’t agree with.

But it is important to understand all points of view from different angles. This is what makes us better business and risk people.

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Many thanks

Rohan