Although ransomware attacks (holding a victim’s data ransom) and phishing have recently become more and more frequent, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks continue to top of the lists of those techniques most used by cybercriminals.

Artificial intelligence systems that are capable of reasoning, creating art or even learning to teach other machines. These are a few examples of what could occur in the future with advances in deep learning. Three experts in the AI field shared their vision, concerns and hopes regarding the development of this technology during the launch of BBVA AI Factory.

BBVA and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) have signed a collaboration agreement to jointly explore the applications of quantum technologies in the financial sector.

As technological innovation continues, customer expectations evolve at a similarly rapid pace.  In navigating this dynamic landscape, financial institutions are increasingly seeking assistance from outside, third party providers, a strategy that itself poses inherent risks, like cybersecurity challenges and the potential for digital-related fraud.  Greater attention and scrutiny from regulators naturally results from this developing risk paradigm.

When a company is about to embark on an important project, one of the first decisions it needs to make is which model is the most appropriate to manage the project. In other words: which project or development methodology is most suitable? The two most commonly used approaches are: agile and waterfall.

Integrating the fundamentals of quantum mechanics into computer science will bring about a sea change in the depth and breadth of computing power. Although there are still hurdles to overcome, recent advances suggest these obstacles will soon be a thing of the past.

Google recently obtained a payment license in Ireland and Lithuania in order to offer payment services. Alipay, the financial division of Alibaba, received a similar license in Luxembourg. Facebook has had one since 2017. These licenses open the door to Internet giants operating as payment service providers across Europe, allowing them to manage card payments and transfers, for example. Is this merely the first step to them becoming banks?

The advantages are many. This doesn’t mean we have to be specialists in computer science. Programming languages are what allow machines to be given instructions, and what makes them, more or less, intelligent. So, the more we know about these processes, the better we understand how the world today functions. We will also be better protected against urban myths and fake news. For example, if we knew how the algorithms that protect our bank accounts work, we would be leery of the urban myth that says if we enter our pin backwards in the ATM, the bank immediately notifies the police.

This new computing paradigm will reduce latency and streamline data traffic coming from millions of devices on the Internet of Things.

Now that using a cell phone and computer has become an everyday part of life, it’s important to be aware of the different types of online threats.  Phishing, vishing and smishing are just a few of the online scams cybercriminals use to steal private data, but this can be avoided through information and preventative action.

The problem of data integrity verification is a classic topic that has been well-studied in the last decades. Many database or log systems run on untrusted servers or are subject to malicious attacks from insiders and, therefore, vulnerable to tampering. With the advent of cloud computing and the possibility of dealing with outsourced data, such situation has been aggravated. This problem is an essential challenge for financial institutions where preserving the correctness of customer data and transactions is crucial in terms of legal compliance and reputation.

The maker movement has helped reignite interest in open-source hardware with projects where device components and information are shared openly to allow everyone to contribute to their development and improvement.

What does rooting or jailbreaking a mobile device mean? Both verbs refer to the same action of removing the limitations that mobile device manufacturers impose to limit user access to the devices’ resources, thus becoming some sort of superuser. Root however is used when the action is performed on android devices, and jailbreak on iOS devices.

Technology changes our lives day by day, offering us capabilities that were unimaginable just yesterday, but also complex challenges and potentially frightening conflicts. In other words: the perfect raw material for the best TV comedy and drama, which has found fertile ground in anti-establishment hackers, genius programmers, start-ups in distress, indolent IT guys or dystopian visions that seem a little too much like the world we live in.

Using a smart contract will always make sense when there is a defined workflow that needs to be managed according to certain rules or to ensure the fulfillment of certain previously agreed conditions.

Throughout history, there have been several versions of the family and different models of relating with one another. The latest version is the family 2.0.

At this point, it’s not surprising that apps that are spontaneously installed on our devices use our personal data in a number of ways.

At BBVA Labs, we have been using Akka Actors in different projects for a long time due to its inherent computation distribution capabilities in high load scenarios, using actors as stateless or stateful units of execution that send messages among them in an asynchronous fashion.

In this post, we will cover some of the weak points of working with untyped classic actors and we will show what are the benefits that Akka Typed brings to the scene. Finally, we will present a brief description of session types and the Process DSL API created by Dr. Roland Kuhn. All examples are written using the Scala API.

BBVA’s drive towards delivering a world class digital banking experience has taken another step forward. Over the past year the bank has seen an almost twofold year on year increase in the number of products and services its customers and clients are taking-up via digital channels.

Digital identity is the online version of an individual’s physical identity.  It consists of all of the individual´s personal data that is available online —not just an email or physical address, but also pictures, banking info, shopping preferences. This identity is not uniform, as we share different attributes in different platforms. In other words, we don’t share the same type of information on LinkedIn and Facebook, for example.

The head of the BBVA Data & Analytics’ Edge team, José Antonio Rodríguez-Serrano, who coordinates the innovation area in BBVA’s center of excellence in data science, shares his insights into five key questions to understand the implications of this exponential technology in different economical sectors and spheres of society.

The widespread use of mobile devices on a day-to-day basis brings with it the risk of very personal information such as bank details, photographs, messages, contacts and emails and a long list of private details falling into unwanted hands.

‘Blockchain’ is still at level 0 in the video game industry, but it has a promising future.

As we have seen in previous articles, the intelligent use of data, with the right talent and the pertinent business strategies for applying creative solutions, can provide insights that help solve a whole gamut of problems and take on board new opportunities. Data places within our grasp an enhanced decision-making ability and a deeper understanding of our clients and what they need. But as in the case of any other tool, these new skills can be put to positive or not so positive use, whether intentionally or not.

The use of virtual assistants, mainly in the form of smart speakers, is rapidly gaining ground. In less than a year, devices such as Echo and Google Home have appeared in households across the globe and users are becoming increasingly comfortable carrying out searches, purchases and even bank transactions using this format, which looks set to become the transactional interface between customers and companies.

We inferred as much in the title to the first article of this series: to key to realizing all the opportunities of this new technological era, lies in these three factors: raw material—data—and the other two are human factors—intelligence and innovation.

Whether it’s chatting, finding your soul mate or jotting down notes, there are few things that twentysomethings and younger people can’t do on a smartphone. With so many applications available for smartphones, which are the ones most preferred by millennials?

Wearables manufacturers are changing their focus from fitness and health, to improving user productivity and connectivity. That´s the great challenge facing a business whose size is expected to double between 2017 and 2021.

BBVA announced the creation of the Information Security & Engineering Risk (IS&ER) unit, a new area within Engineering, to coordinate the group’s information security, cybersecurity and engineering risk efforts. Álvaro Garrido has been appointed head of IS&ER, reporting directly to BBVA’s Global Head of Engineering, Ricardo Moreno.

The world’s tech giants are competing to dominate the field of Artificial Intelligence, which is likely to become the key technology of the digital economy. Who’s leading in this race and what consequences will it have?

Artificial Intelligence is no longer science fiction. In fact, it has begun to revolutionize the job market, providing opportunities for professionals with a solid foundation in STEM (science, technology, engineering an mathematics). Universities are responding with graduate programs and online courses in specific areas of AI.

The new technologies, and their presence in everyday life, are radically changing the way we look at entertainment, social relationships and work. They have also created new professions that do not yet have a set educational pathway, such as videogame developer.

The number of companies and investors betting on blockchain continues to grow. But how did it come about? What was needed to develop bitcoin, its first practical application? And who were the pioneers of blockchain?

Exhibitionism is one of the defining traits of today’s society. We have access to every imaginable way to take pictures, store them, upload them, share them and comment on them.

One of the biggest financial stories of 2018 will be the entry into force of the European Union’s Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2). For customers, the measure will mean faster, simpler and more secure digital payments. And for banks and the fintech ecosystem, it presents a great opportunity.

The APIfication phenomenon is by no means restricted to the banking sector. At the API Forum held this week in Madrid, insurance and entertainment companies participated, together with BBVA, to discuss the keys to designing APIs capable of attracting developers.

This isn’t an article about magic or a secret trick for using cell phones. It’s simply about using the voice assistants that any mobile device contains: Siri for Apple and the popular “OK Google” for Android. Both allow users to send messages while leaving the smartphone on the table, untouched.

Big Data Spain brought together more than 1,200 specialists in data analysis and science in Madrid for two days, during which it was made clear how this technology can bring a new dimension to any area: from marketing to user experience to economic and geopolitical analysis.

We live in a digital society. Technology and the Internet are part of the everyday lives of people and organizations. As technologies evolve, risks and threats evolve with them. We need to strengthen cybersecurity, but do we have the resources we need?

Samsung and BBVA today presented the iris scanning feature, which will allow BBVA customers with Samsung-compatible smartphones to log on to the bank’s Spanish mobile banking app just by looking at their displays[1].

Manufacturers are working hard to ensure that their smartphones are bestsellers. It’s a race in which the brands and models remain virtually unchanged. The iPhone 7 was the top-selling smartphone in the third quarter of 2017, with a total of 375.9 million devices sold. This represents a 5.9% increase over the same period last year.

One of the things about huge conferences like Money 20/20 in Las Vegas is that you get to see the ideas that will shape the future of the banking sector.

They’re always popular with users of Android mobiles and they’re a fixture on any smartphone. Weather applications allow you to be always informed, in real time, about the meteorological conditions at a given place. Some of these apps are free, others have a cost; some are well known and others are just making a name for themselves in the market.

BBVA’s Group Executive Chairman is convinced that technological advances will be accompanied by greater progress and well-being, but he is also calling for policies and structural reforms that are capable of mitigating the costs of the transition to the new digital society. Supporting research and education, promoting competition and transparency in the markets and developing new employment policies and social protection systems were among the recommendations Francisco González shared at an event organized by El Periódico de Catalunya and BBVA in Barcelona.

Only two months ago, it was just an experiment. Twitter decided to double the number of characters per message for certain selected accounts. The goal was to find out whether the traditional 140-character limit was an obstacle to the best use of the application.

In a few years, we may not be paying with cash, cards or even with smartphones, but rather, by car. Vehicle connectivity will change the way we manage time and money, but a number of problems still need to be addressed.

Madrid hosted last week the Service Design Global Conference (SDGC17), a leading event in the world of service design that pays special attention to how this discipline is changing the world of banking. BBVA took part in one of the sessions to explain how design is, without a doubt, a key element in the success of its financial products and in satisfying customer needs at a time of great challenges for banking.