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Mastercard (MA), Softcell Tie Up to Boost Cybersecurity in India

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Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) recently joined forces with the Mumbai-based IT service provider and systems integrator company Softcell Technologies Global Pvt. Ltd. to expand the distribution of one of its cybersecurity offerings across Softcell customers throughout India.

The cybersecurity product mentioned above refers to the third-party cyber risk management platform of Mastercard — RiskRecon. The platform enables organizations to detect and counter those cybersecurity threats that take place across supply chains and third-party vendors. RiskRecon comes with a self-scan tool that utilizes non-invasive techniques to examine the cybersecurity risk posture of the public systems of an organization.

Following the latest partnership, the customer base of Softcell across diversified industries will be able to avail the exclusive scanning and evaluation technologies of RiskRecon and set up a solid digital safety framework. This, in turn, is likely to empower the customers to protect their businesses from the continuous incidence of cyber threats by extending uninterrupted real-time information for proactive management of cyber risks and protecting critical intellectual property, consumer and payment data.

Initiatives similar to the latest one reflect Mastercard’s sincere efforts to enhance security in the digital ecosystem and create safe cyberspace. This seems to be the need of the hour, considering the increasing digitization of operations by most businesses to keep pace with the ongoing digital trend. While digitization has been a blessing in disguise for organizations to continue their businesses despite several COVID-19-induced volatilities, the trend to go digital encouraged fraudsters to devise sophisticated methods and technologies to indulge in cybercrimes. This is an alarming concern as cyberattacks compromise payments received by organizations and the confidential data of consumers. This, in turn, might lead to the incurrence of exorbitant costs.

Therefore, companies similar to Mastercard providing a comprehensive portfolio of fraud detection solutions with high accuracy for varied industries will be best positioned to capitalize on the increasing incidence of cybersecurity threats. Softcell seems to be the apt partner for distributing Mastercard’s cybersecurity product to its customers in India. Softcell has a solid track record of pursuing a consulting-based approach in aiding businesses to upgrade infrastructure security. Certified professionals across key domains numbering more than 200 also aid Softcell.

In addition to boosting presence in India, the recent effort to extend RiskRecon within the country seems to be time opportune as well. India was among one of the top three nations in Asia impacted by the most cyberattacks last year, per a global analysis report of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM - Free Report) (published in The Economic Times). The country remains prone to cyberattacks from all across the globe due to its obsolete systems and processes, disjointed and incompetent cybersecurity infrastructure, and inadequate knowledge of cybersecurity.

Mastercard remains committed to upgrading its cybersecurity suite on the back of continuous partnerships and significant investments. In April 2022, MA teamed up with the rapidly growing operational resilience company Interos to empower financial institutions with the latter’s credible risk-monitoring capabilities for quickly addressing third-party risks in their businesses. Mastercard even has a program to safeguard its network and platforms from cyber and information security threats.

Shares of Mastercard have lost 11.9% in the past six months compared with the industry’s decline of 18.7%.

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MA currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Similar to Mastercard, other companies like Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) and American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) are continuously rolling out a diverse range of fraud detection solutions to protect merchants and consumers engaging in digital means amid the growing incidence of cybercrimes.

Visa launched the Advanced Identity Score in 2020 with the intent to minimize digital identity frauds and reduce operational costs associated with identity-related forgeries. V actively pursues technology investments to reduce the impact of fraud and safeguard consumer and merchant-oriented information. The CyberSource solution by Visa comprises a diversified portfolio of payment and fraud management tools.

American Express has been making every effort to advance its digital arm to assist its merchants and Card Members globally. AXP has its proprietary automated accounts payable (AP) solution American Express One AP, which aims to address the robust demand for AP solutions that secure payment processes via digitization. American Express has collaborated with a few online fraud-prevention companies like Accertify, Microsoft and Riskified to stop card-not-present (CNP) fraud and ensure safer shopping for its worldwide merchants and Card Members.

Shares of Visa and American Express have lost 8.2% and 14.9%, respectively, in the past six months.

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