Mastercard signs 7 blockchain cryptocurrency startups and continues to pave the way to transform its payment system this year - Mastercard has announced that it is signing 7 new startups for its Start Path program. They all belong to the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors.

The financial services multinational thus enhances its role within digital assets the year in which it announced that it intends to transform its payment system, including the option to save and pay with these digital currencies by its customers.

Startups that integrate into this Mastercard network range from one aimed at creating a marketplace for non-expendable tokens (NFT) to building an isolated offline camera to enable new sustainable digital assets.

The selected companies are GK8, Domain Money, Mintable, SupraOracles, STACS, Taurus and Uphold. The multinational aims with its support "to expand and accelerate innovation around digital asset technology and make buying, spending and maintaining cryptocurrencies and digital assets safer and easier for people," as the company points out in a statement.

Mastercard signs 7 blockchain cryptocurrency startups

"Mastercard has been involved in the digital currency ecosystem since 2015. As a world-class technology player, we believe we can play a key role in digital assets, helping shape the industry and providing consumer protection and security," said Jess Turner, executive vice president of New Digital Infrastructure and Fintech.

Turner adds that " part of our role is shaping the future of cryptocurrency, and we are doing so by bridging conventional financial principles and digital asset innovations." Quite a statement of intent on the part of the financier.

In the same direction, Mastercard moved forward last week that it would enhance its card program for cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges with a simplified payment card, "which will make it easier for partners to convert cryptocurrencies into traditional fiat currency."

Mastercard signs 7 blockchain cryptocurrency startups

The company detailed that this new card has been developed with the" leading Blockchain platform " Evolve Bank & Trust and with the regulated stable coin issuance platform Paxos Trust Company. Likewise, the financial technology company Circle, which is the main operator of the USD Coin (USDC), "a digital currency in dollars or stable currency", would be the companies involved in the project.

"Mastercard and its partners will test this new capability to allow more banks and crypto companies to offer a card option to people who want to spend their digital assets anywhere Mastercard is accepted," the multinational said.

Mastercard signs 7 blockchain cryptocurrency startups

Now it remains to be seen what steps the company will take to advance the integration of the cryptographic universe into its system. Failing to know which names it will accept, Mastercard warns in another statement that "not all current cryptocurrencies will be compatible" with its network.

"Although stablecoins are more regulated and more reliable today than in the past, many of the hundreds of digital assets in circulation still have to strengthen their compliance measures, so they will not meet our requirements," they say.

Mastercard signs 7 blockchain cryptocurrency startups

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Cyberattacks against Spanish SMEs grow by 70% in 2021 and are already more than double those registered before the pandemic

Cyberattacks against Spanish small and medium-sized companies are already more than double those registered before the pandemic. In 2021 the incidents that have affected national SMEs have grown by 70% with respect to the same period last year, according to data from a Spanish agency called Exsel, and collects The Information on Tuesday.

The small firms that would have been affected by cybersecurity incidents in Spain alone would amount to 300,000 so far this year. Most of these incidents are related to attacks deployed through social engineering strategies: cybercriminals inducing workers of these companies to deceive. This method would be directly or indirectly responsible for 95% of attacks.

Social engineering techniques have also increased eight-fold and their effectiveness has grown by 40%, reflecting how widespread confinement and the rise of teleworking after the pandemic has increased the vulnerability of firms of all sizes in Spain. With an adaptation of face-to-face work to remote work overnight, the computer systems of SMEs left several holes that cybercriminals have exploited.

Exsel, responsible for this study, is also the promoter of a cyber insurance for SMEs called Cyber Shield. An investigation by Telefónica Tech already showed that last year the cyber threats present in the network multiplied by 2,000% due to the pandemic. In addition to fraud and scams through social engineering, phishing or spoofing, one of the most prevalent attacks in recent months is still ransomware.

Ransomware is a type of harmful code that infiltrates the computer networks of its victims to try to affect as many devices as possible and encrypt their files, leaving the computers unusable until the victim in question decides to pay a ransom in cryptocurrencies to those responsible for the hijacking of their systems.

Although only ransomware attacks on large companies such as MásMóvil, or administrations such as the Ministry of Labor, transcend the media, the truth is that many of these incidents usually affect medium-sized companies. The situation could get worse over the next few weeks, as many cybercriminals take advantage of the summer to try to attack, when many of these companies have their holiday System managers or are off guard.

The Exsel report also finds that 9 out of 10 SMEs have increased their investment in cybersecurity. They have also transferred risk by hiring cyberinsurance, a turnover that in Spain exceeds 500 million euros, according to the Information, and grows at double digit.

The problem is that many of these cyberinsures have policies that only cover more sophisticated cyberattacks, so the phenomenon of social engineering is often neglected. This conclusion is reached by the report after analyzing 29 coverages against the 17 most frequent types of cyberattacks that would potentially activate such policies.