The University of British Columbia aims to accelerate cybersecurity and financial risk research supported by a $2-million donation from Scotiabank.

The initiative will support research and educational initiatives, engagement activities such as hackathons, and other collaborative events to advance understanding of the impacts of cyberattacks and refine risk management tools, announced Scotiabank and UBC on March 13.

"Data theft costs organizations billions of dollars a year worldwide, and cause psychological and social harm for individual customers. The Scotiabank Cybersecurity and Risk Analytics Initiative at UBC will advance the industry's collective understanding of how to further protect digital assets," said Michael Zerbs, Chief Technology Officer, Scotiabank.

Building talent in the digital economy

"At the same time, Scotiabank's support will contribute to research and engage students to advance financial modelling to help manage risks and protect customers. We're proud to support UBC as part our digital strategy and our commitment to building talent in the digital economy."

"There is an urgent need to advance our understanding of information security and financial risk management in an ever more connected, complex world. Thanks to Scotiabank's generous donation, leading UBC researchers can now deepen their knowledge and train the next generation of financial risk analysts and cybersecurity experts," said Professor Santa J. Ono, UBC president and vice chancellor.