Mobile phones and networks are transforming the world of finance, creating opportunities
for widespread financial inclusion, especially among neglected regions and groups. Security and privacy should be among the most important considerations when building digital finance systems.
Credit decisions are often based on sensitive information and online finance offerings are no exception. The sensitivity of this information gives rise to a series of critical questions for customers:

  • To whom am I giving my data? And who else do they allow to access it? For what purposes?
  • How do the companies protect data so that people who do not have legitimate access cannot use or steal it?
  • What rights and options do I have if something does go wrong?

The goal of this research, conducted by CFI Fellow Patrick Traynor, is to examine how well digital lenders are responding to these questions.

Patrick Traynor

Associate Professor, University of Florida

Patrick Traynor is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) at the University of Florida. His research focuses on the security of mobile systems, with a concentration on telecommunications infrastructure and mobile devices. His research has uncovered critical vulnerabilities in cellular networks, made the first characterization of mobile malware in provider networks and offers a robust approach to detecting and combatting Caller-ID scams. He is also interested in Internet security and the systems challenges of applied cryptography. He received a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation in 2010 and was named a Sloan Fellow in 2014. Professor Traynor earned his Ph.D and M.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 2008 and 2004, respectively, and his B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Richmond in 2002. After promotion and tenure in the School of Computer Science at Georgia Tech, he joined the University of Florida in 2014 as part of the UFRising Preeminence Hiring Program. He is the co-director of the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) and is also a co-founder of Pindrop Security.

 

 

 

 

 

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