How do we protect our digital inventory? How do we protect customer accounts and information? How do we protect the customers’ identity? These are questions that Ulf Larsson focuses on in his work as Security Chief Technology Officer (CTO). By collaborating with colleagues and a genuine interest in security, he continuously works with innovation and developing security solutions at SEB
– In my role, I need a deep understanding of four main areas: personal security, building security, information security as well as IT and infrastructure security.
In Larsons role, he prioritises keeping customer data secure by learning the best current security solutions.
– The security of our customers data is of the utmost importance, everything else is secondary. My role is understanding the business strategy as well as the technology and then translating the goals into concrete solutions for how we should operationally create services around this, and how we can remain resilient against any attempts to breach the bank. I need to be able to describe this in concrete activities that continuously correspond to the business strategy.
Larsson also believes that it is crucial with collaboration with different colleagues and teams when working to ensure secure solutions.
– It is important for me to be available and explain my work to different divisions in a clear manner.
– The bank has an ongoing responsibility to uphold financial stability so is important that our payment services always work, that we are always available and that the customers financial data is safe with us. For example, several people and organisations are affected if we experience technical difficulties with our app. That is why we want to stop these events from happening. In our work with security, we always consider the bank’s role in society and the fact that our financial stability is constantly measured.
– We are currently seeing an increase in malicious code generated with the help of AI. The volumes are enormous, and AI models are being used not only to create the malicious code but also to distribute it. The code is designed in such a way that it automatically searches for vulnerabilities in systems. Therefore, we must respond in the same way to identify these weaknesses. We can compare this to a game of chess. To make the right decisions, it is not enough to plan our own moves, we must also understand the moves our opponent may make. This is why we need to analyse the threat landscape both internally and externally to identify the most relevant threats. In fact, we are increasing our use of AI to help us defend the bank and it is now built into our products. We continuously look ahead and focus on taking the next step to strengthen our security work.
– It is particularly important to me that we continue to make it clear that our security measures are enablers and that they ensure that we can conduct our business in a safe and trustworthy way. We also continue to work with innovation here at SEB to create scalable security implementation. We are a company that encourages curiosity, innovation, and colleagues with an inner drive. That is the path we will keep moving forward on.
– Security is an exciting area for tech talents looking to work at SEB. The foundation of our work is to protect our customers’ data and assets in a rapidly changing digital world. This entails understanding threats, detecting attacks, and adapting and strengthening security measures. For people who are problem solvers, curious, and interested in tech, there are many opportunities in security.
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