Eurozone banks lose millions mismanaging IT

El Banc Central Europeu detecta deficiències fonamentals en la manera en què els bancs de l’eurozona aborden la ciberseguretat i avisa que estan perdent milions d’euros per culpa del cibercrim, sistemes de gestió antiquats i la baixa qualitat dels serveis tecnològics externalitzats.

El sector bancari ha introduït importants canvis tecnològics en els últims anys, especialment arran de la necessitat d’actualitzar-se davant del canvi de paradigma en la gestió de les finances que han esperonat les fintech. La inversió en tecnologies de la informació a la banca ha estat notablement superior a la de la majoria d’indústries, però aquesta transició cap a la digitalització de les finances per a millorar l’eficiència bancària no ha estat fàcil.

En aquest context, el Banc Central Europeu (BCE) ha realitzat una enquesta entre els bancs de l’eurozona que supervisa i ha dut a terme 22 inspeccions des de 2020 per a comprovar fins a quin punt estan preparats per a fer front al cibercrim. L’estudi del BCE deixa una imatge preocupant sobre la preparació del sector bancari europeu, arribant a la conclusió que els problemes són “més greus i generalitzats” del que es preveia.

Pel que fa a l’incompliment dels contractes per part dels serveis tecnològics externalitzats, l’enquesta feta per la institució de la UE indica que això ha comportat un cost addicional de 148 milions d’euros als bancs el 2022, un augment del 360% respecte a l’any anterior.

Tot i que el BCE explicava que aquestes pèrdues es deuen principalment per la manca de disponibilitat o mala qualitat dels serveis subcontractats, aquestes “es van concentrar en unes poques entitats significatives i, per tant, no indiquen una tendència sectorial”. Així mateix, constatava que “els acords de subcontractació dels bancs sovint no abordaven prou els requisits de seguretat informàtica”.

Es dupliquen les operacions fraudulentes a la banca espanyola

Segons l’últim informe del Banc d’Espanya, corresponent a 2022, les reclamacions per operacions fraudulentes han augmentat un 109,1%, duplicant-se des de l’any anterior. Concretament, es van tramitar 34.146 reclamacions en el Departament de Conducta d’Entitats del Banc d’Espanya.

La pràctica del phishing en destaca com una de les principals causes (10.361 de les denúncies) que hi ha al darrere de l’increment d’aquestes reclamacions sobre targetes i transferències, motivades per operacions presumptament fraudulentes. Recordem que el phishing consisteix a crear una pàgina web molt semblant a alguna que tu utilitzes normalment, per fer-t’hi entrar i robar-te certa informació.

A més, cal tenir en compte que durant el 2022 encara no hi havia peticions de clients sobre el nou Codi de Bones Pràctiques, que es va aprovar a la fi de l’exercici, i que ha fet augmentar les reclamacions en el 2023. Per entitats, CaixaBank, BBVA i Banc Santander són les que més reclamacions reben, gràcies a la seva major quota de mercat. En tot cas, en el conjunt europeu, el BCE avisa que aquests resultats “plantegen serioses preocupacions de supervisió que confirmen la necessitat de continuar les inspeccions in situ juntament amb converses entre bancs i supervisors”.

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Online scams are a common problem affecting many people who use the Internet. Scammers use sophisticated techniques to trick victims out of money or personal information. Joan Benedicto, 11Onze agent, details what they are and how to avoid the most common scams in the cyber world.

The convenience, speed, low prices and numerous options available have led to an exponential increase in online shopping and transactions year after year. However, e-commerce also increases the likelihood of falling victim to digital scams.

To protect ourselves against these scams, it is important to refrain from sharing personal or financial information online that is not strictly necessary, or when we do, not to click on suspicious links and to verify the authenticity of the website before providing personal or financial information.

Phishing and online shopping

First and foremost, you should avoid connecting to the internet through a Wi-Fi network that is open to the public. Cafés, hotels or other premises with Wi-Fi connections available without a password are more vulnerable than password-protected networks. As Benedicto explains, “a person with sufficient knowledge could create an open Wi-Fi network and get access to any computer that’s connected to it”.

One of the most common Internet scams is ‘phishing’, which “consists of creating a web page very similar to the one you normally use, to get you to log in and steal certain information,” says the 11Onze agent. It can also be done by using a fake email that looks like it is from a legitimate company, such as a bank, to obtain personal information or access a bank account.

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We buy, work, get informed and pay through digital platforms. They are convenient, fast, and efficient. But they are also invisible, opaque, and indispensable. The question is no longer whether we live connected, but whether we remain free in a system governed by algorithms that make decisions for us without asking permission.

Digitalisation has simplified everyday life. But it has also created new forms of structural dependency. In this new scenario, those who control data control economic power, consumption and, increasingly, individual decisions. And this has consequences that go far beyond technology.

For years, we have spoken about digital services as if they were an additional layer of comfort. Just another tool. Today, this is no longer true. Technological platforms and digital systems have become almost the only channels for accessing basic services: working, getting paid, paying, communicating, accessing information or even interacting with public administration.

Dependence on the cloud, on dominant operating systems and on closed ecosystems means that a technical failure is no longer just an IT problem. It is an economic failure. When a payment system goes down, when a platform blocks an account or when a service stops working, the impact is immediate and real.

The comparison is clear: energy, water, the financial system and now digital infrastructure. All four share a key characteristic: once they become essential, they cease to be neutral. And those who control them accumulate power.

Data: the strategic resource of the 21st century

This immense volume of data does not accumulate passively. It is constantly processed, cross-referenced and interpreted. Data is the raw material; real value emerges when it is transformed into actionable knowledge. Those who have the capacity to analyse it not only understand human behaviour, but can anticipate it and guide it. At this point, information ceases to be descriptive and becomes power.

This is where algorithms come into play. Systems designed to organise informational chaos, but also to prioritise, filter and decide. Based on the data we generate, algorithms build profiles, assign probabilities and make automatic decisions that affect our consumption, the information we receive and the opportunities available to us. They do not operate in a vacuum: they function within economic models that seek to maximise performance, efficiency, and control.

The result is a silent shift in decision-making. What used to be a conscious choice is now often an induced response. Not because someone forces us, but because the system presents a single option as the most logical, the cheapest or the most convenient. When decisions are delegated to opaque processes that we neither understand nor can question, the boundary between recommendation and conditioning becomes blurred. And with it, an essential part of our freedom.

Digital dependence and economic freedom

This digital dependence is not just a matter of habits, but of economic power. When payments, access to services and money management pass through centralised digital infrastructures, financial freedom ceases to be merely a matter of income. It becomes a matter of access. Those who control the infrastructure can authorise, limit or block a person’s economic activity without the need for direct coercion. A single click is enough.

As the system becomes more digital, exclusion also increases. Being excluded from a platform, losing access to an account or failing to meet the criteria of an automated system can mean being excluded from the economic circuit. The debate on central bank digital currencies fits squarely within this context: greater operational efficiency, yes, but also an unprecedented capacity for control. The dilemma is not technological. It is political and about personal sovereignty.

The problem is compounded when this dependence is combined with growing centralisation. The more we concentrate data, services, and decisions in a few digital infrastructures, the more vulnerable the entire system becomes. Cyberattacks, outages, systemic errors or geopolitical tensions can abruptly paralyse everyday economic activity. Technology offers us immediate comfort, but it also creates invisible fragilities. And then the question is no longer theoretical: what happens to your economic life when the system you depend on stops working?

Technology yes, dependence no

Technology can empower or subjugate. The difference is not technical. It is about control, judgement, and sovereignty. In a world governed by algorithms, economic freedom is not lost all at once, but gradually, when we stop understanding how the systems that shape our decisions work and delegate control to opaque infrastructures that we do not question.

Preserving this freedom begins with awareness. Knowing what we give up when we use a platform, what data we generate and how it can be used. But it also requires diversifying risks, avoiding absolute dependencies and not entrusting everything to a single digital intermediary. Immediate convenience cannot justify a structural loss of autonomy.

At 11Onze, we believe that the future is not about renouncing technology, but about using it with discernment. Regaining control over what is essential: our data, our money, and our decisions. Because true innovation is not delegating everything to an algorithm, but building tools that reinforce personal sovereignty and allow us to keep deciding in an increasingly automated environment.

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La NASA es planteja enviar una missió tripulada a Mart en les pròximes dècades. Per a això serà necessari crear oxigen a partir del diòxid de carboni present en l’aire del planeta vermell. Part del dispositiu que ho fa possible és d’or.

Per les seves propietats, l’or ha tingut i continua tenint un paper fonamental en l’exploració espacial. Per posar un exemple, aquest metall noble ja va ser bàsic en el primer passeig espacial de la NASA l’any 1965. El cable que unia al coronel Ed White a la Gemini 4 estava recobert d’or per assegurar la seva subjecció i la visera del seu vestit també estava revestida d’or per protegir els seus ulls de la radiació solar.

La durabilitat i estabilitat de l’or, així com el fet que no s’oxidi i sigui un bon conductor de l’electricitat i de la calor, han portat als responsables de múltiples projectes espacials a utilitzar-lo amb finalitats molt diverses.

Missió a Mart

Una de les grans aspiracions de la NASA per a les pròximes dècades és enviar una missió tripulada a Mart. I serà necessària una gran quantitat d’oxigen, tant per fer cremar el combustible de la nau com per mantenir vius als astronautes.

La millor opció per no haver de transportar tot aquest oxigen des de la Terra és crear-lo en el mateix planeta vermell. I es pot aconseguir a partir del diòxid de carboni que constitueix la major part de l’aire marcià. Per això, el vehicle robotitzat Perseverance, que va arribar a Mart el febrer de 2021, incorpora un instrument anomenat MOXIE que produeix oxigen a partir del diòxid de carboni.

Com explica el Dr. Michael Hecht, investigador principal d’aquest projecte, “l’or és fonamental per al funcionament de MOXIE”, que pesa 17 quilograms i té una grandària similar al d’una bateria de cotxe. La carcassa de MOXIE està feta d’or perquè aquest metall “és extraordinàriament estable, no s’oxida ni es corroeix amb facilitat i és un excel·lent conductor de la calor”, segons Hecht. Aquesta última propietat és crucial, ja que en alguns moments del dia la temperatura és massa alta perquè pugui funcionar aquest dispositiu.

Un assaig a petita escala

Quan MOXIE està en marxa, el Perseverance roman pràcticament inactiu, ja que es requereix molta energia per separar les molècules de CO₂. Per això, MOXIE no funciona molt sovint, només una vegada al mes o cada dos mesos.

MOXIE triga unes dues hores a estar operatiu perquè una de les peces necessàries per al procés ha d’escalfar-se fins a assolir els 800 °C. Després, la càrrega de les bateries del vehicle permet produir oxigen durant una hora, en la qual a vegades els responsables del projecte canvien el voltatge o la velocitat del compressor per aprendre més sobre l’instrument.

En aquest temps MOXIE pot produir entre 6 i 10 grams d’oxigen. Es tracta d’una quantitat molt petita tenint en compte que cadascun de nosaltres consumim entre 10 i 20 grams d’oxigen cada hora, però permet a la NASA comprovar que aquesta tecnologia crítica funciona de manera adequada sobre el terreny.

De fet, el principal objectiu de MOXIE és demostrar que es pot confiar en aquesta tecnologia per nodrir d’oxigen a futures tripulacions d’astronautes i retornar-los a casa sans i estalvis. També aprendre molts detalls tècnics sobre com construir un futur sistema MOXIE molt més gran.

Dos viatges per a una missió

Tenint en compte les òrbites de la Terra i de Mart, el moment òptim per afrontar un viatge entre tots dos planetes es produeix cada vint-i-sis mesos. Una de les idees que es plantegen per dur a terme una missió tripulada és enviar primer tot el material necessari, tant el lloc on viurien els astronautes a Mart com els vehicles d’exploració, una central elèctrica i potser un “gran” MOXIE, i vint-i-sis mesos després enviar als astronautes.

D’aquesta manera, la base estaria instal·lada uns vint mesos abans del viatge dels astronautes. Aquest “gran” MOXIE hauria de generar i emmagatzemar una part important de l’oxigen que els astronautes i el seu coet necessitarien en la missió. Això significa que el dispositiu hauria de produir entre 2.000 i 3.000 grams d’oxigen per hora, enfront dels 6-10 grams que produeix el MOXIE actual. I hauria de fer-ho gairebé sense parar.

Cal tenir en compte que el coet d’ascens per marxar de Mart requeriria entre 25 i 30 tones d’oxigen i que els astronautes podrien respirar entre 2 i 3 tones durant la seva estada de divuit mesos al planeta vermell fins que arribés el moment òptim per tornar.

El primer capítol de la sèrie The Golden Thread, que aborda la importància que ha tingut i té l’or en diferents àmbits de la nostra vida, incideix en el paper fonamental que ha jugat aquest metall preciós en l’exploració de l’espai.

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Artificial intelligence facilitates the fulfilment of 79% of the sustainable development goals set globally in the 2030 Agenda. We analyse a Nature Communications’ study to find out why this figure has been reached and from which areas it will be achieved.

What is artificial intelligence (AI)?

Although there is no single way to describe it, an accurate way is the one described by Britannica, understanding AI as the ability of a digital computer or robot to perform tasks that require human intelligence. In other words, taking advantage of technological tools to optimise human tasks and, at the same time, achieve challenges that until now seemed impossible. Social and economic development cannot be understood without these AI mechanisms that, today, already mark our daily lives. Facial, fingerprint and voice recognition, weather forecasting, interactive communication with machines, automated knowledge extraction and logical reasoning are some of the achievements that will undoubtedly mark this century. The focus, and the challenge, is to create and use this technology to contribute to sustainable development on a global scale.

The three pillars of sustainable development

Society, economy and environment form the basis for understanding today’s world and are therefore the key points for developing strategic actions. The Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS), have been created from these three pillars. 17 goals and 169 targets shape the present and future challenges on a global scale to keep technological advances at bay and ensure that every step contributes positively to social progress.

The 169 goals address all areas such as poverty, quality education, access to food, health and water for the population, clean and affordable energy and the creation of sustainable cities. The Nature Communications’ study, based on more than 60 sources, finds that the right AI development can have a positive impact on 134 of these goals, 79%. The uses of AI are multiple, and we find them represented in most everyday actions.

AI to reduce social inequalities

Technology is opening up to reach all pockets, also from an economic point of view. Today, using AI through our smartphones is part of our routine. Voice, touch and fingerprint recognition, device localisation, connectivity… AI tools are being incorporated at full speed to simplify the user experience and make technology accessible to everyone. The aim is to reduce the digital divide.

But AI goes further and seeks to create inclusion mechanisms for certain groups. One example is tools such as Google Lookout or Microsoft Seeing AI that facilitate the perception of the environment for blind people thanks to the identification of objects, people or text.

At home, applications such as the Localizador de la Fundació Arrels use technology as a way to care for groups at risk of social exclusion, in this case focused on supporting homeless people. Another example is the Refugee Aid App, which provides migrants with the location of NGOs, social and humanitarian aid centres where they can be assisted.

This is one of the key points of AI, favouring interconnection between users from all over the world and facilitating the creation of meeting spaces from which to collectively tackle egalitarian and inclusive social development. Technology provides the platform, but it is the citizens who have to take action.

AI for a circular economy

In terms of sustainable development, the concept of a circular economy is emerging, in which production is aligned with the life cycle of products and moves away from the traditional system based on buy, use and throw away. AI encourages this system based on the simplest everyday actions. Beyond connecting brands and consumers, digital platforms encourage the exchange of second-hand products and, from the digital environment, a trend has been created based on reusing products and promoting DIY.

The industry is also joining production based on the 7Rs, and it is doing so in many different ways. Machines are put at the service of the environment to carry out production based on recycled materials, from tyres to making roads to clothing. The technology is also reaching into means of transport, which are increasingly sustainable and encourage co-operation over private ownership.

In the area of wealth generation, AI is also key in the business sector in terms of efficiency and process optimisation, as well as in the recruitment process. From bringing companies and jobseekers together to creating automated talent selection processes. Along the same lines, investment companies such as Circularity Capital connect, through applications, investment and sustainable projects. The business fabric is adapting to environmental needs, with technology as its main ally.

AI in the environment: technology to understand the world

With the aim of environmental preservation, platforms have been created that use data analysis to identify species at risk of extinction, prevent desertification in at-risk areas or favour the maintenance of forests. For a more everyday use, there are applications that encourage the consumption of seasonal food, promote local commerce or encourage sustainable consumption of fish, without forgetting the weather forecast that is key in the maritime or outdoor sectors.

At the same time, from our mobile and thanks to AI, we can calculate air quality in real time, greenhouse gas emissions or the carbon footprint we generate on a daily basis. All facilities that demonstrate that leading a sustainable lifestyle is just a click away.

Technology allows us to understand and know what is happening all over the planet, and even on other planets. The applications created through AI extend to all areas and a global vision is positive: we are managing to create a type of technology that makes life easier for humans and, above all, that strives for sustainable development, thinking in terms of the community. The real challenge in this matter, which the study emphasises, is to ensure that the creation and maintenance of this technology does not have a negative impact on the planet. AI can favour sustainable development, but this will only be achieved if the process of achieving it is also environmentally friendly.

11Onze is the community fintech of Catalonia. Open an account by downloading the super app El Canut for Android or iOS and join the revolution!