Mastercard plans its first European cybersecurity centre

Mastercard has announced that it is in the midst of developing a Cyber Resilience Centre designed to foster cybersecurity collaboration between public and private sectors.

Located in Waterloo, Belgium, alongside Mastercard’s European headquarters, the centre is the “first of its kind” in Europe and is based on the card scheme’s prior projects in North America.

Mastercard hopes that the centre will serve “as a single cybersecurity hub for the region, bringing together a diverse pool of talent from across Mastercard’s global community.”

The centre will involve work from Europol, Interpol, European Cyber Crime and Fraud Investigators (ECCFI), and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

“Financial services will always be at the top of the target list for attackers due to the vast pool of customer data and credentials under our responsibility,” says Javier Perez, European president at Mastercard.

“Our European Cyber Resilience Centre improves collaboration amongst key organisations, helping to ensure businesses and individuals feel secure when sharing information online.”

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Mastercard aims for the centre to “drastically shorten the lines of communication amongst internal Mastercard teams and externally with customers, partners and stakeholders.”

The centre’s goal will be to improve response time and effectiveness during global events, natural disasters, service and security incidents and ensure compliance with privacy laws globally.

Perez adds: “The security and privacy of our customers’ data is paramount. Fraudsters and hackers know no borders or nationalities, so threats can strike from every corner of the world.

“Only a joint effort that involves all parties will be able to place Europe on the frontline of enterprise resilience. This new centre will synchronize our global resources and partners to constantly seek and adopt the best practices for us and our customer network.”

See more: Mastercard reveals acquisition of AI-based firm RiskRecon