Chilean banks strengthen cybercrime defences through Microsoft intelligence partnership
Cybersecurity skills shortages hamper modernisation at 48 % of Latin American organisations
CISO news
Chilean banks strengthen cybercrime defences through Microsoft intelligence partnership
he Association of Banks and Financial Institutions of Chile( ABIF) has signed a cybersecurity cooperation agreement
T with Microsoft aimed at strengthening the country’ s financial sector against cybercrime and digital fraud.
Chile’ s financial sector will also gain access to intelligence through Microsoft’ s Cyber Threat Intelligence Program, which shares information about emerging cyberthreats to help organisations anticipate and respond to criminal activity.
The initiative connects ABIF’ s Cybersecurity Coordination Group( VTF) with Microsoft’ s Digital Crimes Unit( DCU), providing access to specialised cyberthreat intelligence and expertise.
ABIF’ s VTF has analysed more than 8,500 threat intelligence reports during 2026 and coordinated responses to 243 active threats targeting Chile’ s financial sector.
The organisations will collaborate on knowledge and best-practice sharing, training, technical capability development and analysis of emerging threats and malicious actors.
“ Digital threats are constantly evolving and require increasingly sophisticated capabilities and, above all, collaboration. This agreement allows us to continue strengthening the work that the banking sector has been carrying out to reinforce the financial ecosystem, incorporating the experience and specialised knowledge of a global player such as Microsoft,” said José Manuel Mena, President, ABIF.
The agreement is intended to strengthen cooperation between Chile’ s banking sector and technology industry as cybercriminal groups increasingly operate across national borders.
Recent Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit operations have identified 5,606 Lumma Stealer victims, 1,636 Fox Tempest victims and 479 victims linked to RedVDS in Chile.
Cybersecurity skills shortages hamper modernisation at 48 % of Latin American organisations
lmost half of organisations in Latin America are struggling to modernise their cybersecurity infrastructure because of
A a shortage of qualified specialists, according to research from Kaspersky.
The study found 48 % of organisations across the region encounter difficulties introducing or updating cybersecurity technologies because they lack professionals with the necessary skills.
The problem is particularly pronounced in Chile, where 59 % reported difficulties, followed by Colombia at 50 %, Brazil at 47 %, Argentina at 44 % and Mexico at 41 %.
Artificial Intelligence is adding to the skills requirements facing security teams. Kaspersky found organisations increasingly need specialists capable of understanding how AI can be used both to strengthen cybersecurity and by attackers to develop new threats.
The research also highlighted difficulties keeping existing security professionals’ knowledge current as threats and technologies evolve.
Kaspersky said organisations need to combine technology investment with workforce development, including continuous
training for cybersecurity teams and broader security awareness among employees.
The findings come as organisations across Latin America continue their Digital Transformation programmes, increasing their dependence on Cloud services, connected infrastructure and other digital technologies.
Without sufficient specialist expertise, organisations risk being unable to deploy new security technologies effectively or adapt their defences as the threat landscape changes.
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