Exclusive: Visa announces new cybersecurity protections in the wake of rising scams

Fast Company

7 days ago

Cyberattacks are on the rise, and artificial intelligence is making it easier for bad actors to scam individuals and businesses alike. In response, Visa is launching a new initiative that offers businesses tailored data to better combat cybercrime.
Today, August 6, Visa unveils its new Cybersecurity Advisory Practice, providing customers and businesses with access to advanced tools designed to protect against the growing threat of cybercrime.
Over the past year, the digital payments giant says it has invested billions in cybersecurity infrastructure and enhanced its global payments network by deploying generative AI to detect and block fraud. With its latest initiative, Visa plans to share those capabilities directly with clients to address mounting concerns around information security in the AI era. The new practice will leverage Visa's internal fraud-fighting insights and adapt them to meet the specific needs of each business.
Utilizing AI and drawing from a team of 2,000 consultants, data scientists, and product experts, Visa aims to help clients defend against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.
Visa's Cybersecurity Advisory Practice emerged from what Carl Rutstein, the company's global head of advisory services, describes as a clear need from clients for 'deeper, more proactive support' amid a rapidly evolving threat landscape. As online commerce grows, so does cybercrime. 'There has been a nearly 300% increase in internet fraud just over the last few years,' he tells Fast Company, prompting businesses to seek new ways to 'proactively identify, evaluate, and obviously mitigate emerging cyber threats.'
According to cybersecurity and compliance firm VikingCloud, cybercrime could cost businesses as much as $10.5 trillion by year's end, and up to $15.63 trillion by 2029.
The FBI reported that in 2024 the top three internet crimes were phishing/spoofing, extortion, and personal data breaches. Cybercriminals are increasingly turning to AI, using it to crack passwords, manipulate or poison data, and create deepfakes.
Rutstein says fraud has escalated as bad actors adopt AI to exploit the financial system. Visa, he notes, blocked $14 million in presumed fraud in 2024—a 30% increase over 2023.
The Cybersecurity Advisory Practice is intended to build on Visa's current 'payment ecosystem,' offering services such as dark web threat detection, vulnerability testing, enumeration defense, employee training, and cybersecurity maturity assessments.
Other digital payments providers are also responding to the growing threat. Just last month, Mastercard announced its Security Solutions Program, which includes financial investments in startups that are developing cybersecurity and fraud prevention technologies.
Much like Mastercard's strategy of investing in next-gen security, Visa says its approach focuses on advising businesses of all sizes directly, emphasizing a proactive, rather than reactive, stance.
'We built it to just help our clients,' Rutstein said. 'We do exactly what you would expect an advisory firm connected to a network to be doing, and therefore these are resources and capabilities that are available.'