People in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere are leapfrogging traditional brick-and-mortar banking in favour of mobile payments and other digital financial services. In recent years, regulators and financial sector supervisors have become increasingly aware that financial services aimed to address financial inclusion (FI) challenges around the world are becoming vulnerable to cyber threats, primarily due to the increasing role of digital services (including mobile and other technologies) in the delivery of financial services. As financial services become increasingly digitized, the volume of sensitive digital data grows exponentially and with it, the potential for personal and system impacts of data breaches. As such, the need for safeguards from cybersecurity threats to this data becomes increasingly important.

The event was in line with the ITU Plenipotentiary Resolution 204 and WTSA Resolution 89​ which proposed the use of ICTs to bridge the gap in financial inclusion. 

The objectives of the workshop included: 

• Providing a comprehensive overview of the security threats to fintech and digital financial inclusion;
  
• Identifying technical and organizational security and risk management best practices to mitigate the identified threats which are in the ITU DFS Security Recommendations; 
  
• Showcasing the ITU digital financial services (DFS) security lab​ and the practical guidance provided to developing countries for digital financial services security;
  
• Exploring the ITU Cyber resilience assessment toolkit so regulators can self-assess the cyber resilience of critical infrastructure for digital financial services; and
  
• Providing a platform for cybersecurity experts from the region to share lessons learned in fintech security, cyber resilience and coordination in response to safeguard critical infrastructure and respond to emerging threats in the fintech landscape.
  

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​The DFS Security Clinic was targeted at representatives from telecommunications regulators, national cybersecurity agencies, Central Banks, Financial Service Providers, Banks, ministries, service and IT security solution providers, Strong Authentication vendors, academia, R&D institutions and other organizations working on matters related to fintech security and digital financial inclusion.

Target Audience:
Participation was free of charge and was open to all stakeholders from ITU Member States, Sector Members, Associates and Academic Institutions and to any individual from a country that was a member of ITU who wished to contribute to the work. Participation was free of charge and open to all. No fellowships were granted for the workshop.
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