The Association of Banks in Jordan, in cooperation with OJAG Corp, held an executive dialogue session titled “Understanding the Increasing Threats and Building a Culture of Prevention,” on Monday, 3 November 2025, at the Association’s headquarters in Amman, within the series of banking dialogues for leaders of the banking sector (C-Suite Banking Dialogues).

The session, which was dedicated to executive directors and senior managers in the banking sector, aimed to strengthen strategic awareness among banking leadership of the risks of cybercrimes and their consequences, and to provide them with practical tools to adopt an effective leadership approach in the fields of cybersecurity, data protection, and compliance with financial crime prevention requirements.

The session hosted the American expert Scott Augenbaum, retired Special Supervisory Agent from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and one of the most prominent international experts in the field of cybercrime prevention, where he presented a rich interactive presentation based on his experience spanning more than thirty years in investigating thousands of real cyber cases.

During his remarks, Augenbaum explained that cybercrimes are witnessing an unprecedented acceleration in terms of size and complexity, pointing out that global spending on cybersecurity is doubling annually, while the rate of breaches and losses continues to rise, which reflects – according to his description – a gap between technical spending and human behavior.

He indicated that 95% of breach incidents around the world are due to simple human errors, stressing that the solution begins with changing the institutional mindset toward cybersecurity and moving from reaction to a proactive preventive culture within institutions.

He also presented what he described as the “Four Facts of Cybersecurity,” which include: no one expects to be a victim, cybercrime is often invisible until the damage occurs, law enforcement does not possess magical solutions to restore stolen data or money, and most incidents can be avoided through awareness and simple practices.

Augenbaum explained that today’s attackers do not need advanced technical skills, but rather exploit social engineering and artificial intelligence to deceive users and access their accounts, warning that excessive trust in technical systems without sufficient training represents one of the biggest security vulnerabilities in institutions.

During the session, the speaker addressed a number of practical issues, such as business email compromise (BEC), ransomware attacks, and fraud methods based on artificial intelligence and digital identity spoofing. He presented real examples from the United States and the world, confirming that many of these cases could have been prevented through simple preventive measures.

He also emphasized the importance of identifying the “core data” or the “institutional crown” of each financial institution, and applying the principle of “least privilege” when granting access to sensitive information, in addition to enabling two-factor authentication for all essential accounts, including email, cloud records, and social media platforms.

Augenbaum indicated that building an institutional cybersecurity culture is not achieved unless senior management adopts this file as a strategic priority and works on involving all technical, financial, legal, and human resources departments in the security governance system.

At the end of the session, Augenbaum expressed his appreciation for the level of interaction and comments by representatives of Jordanian banks, confirming that cybersecurity is a collective responsibility that requires awareness, commitment, and continuous cooperation between various parties. He added: “We can reduce 90 to 95% of attacks if we invest in the human being as much as we invest in technology.”

This session comes within the efforts of the Association of Banks in Jordan to enhance the capabilities of the banking sector in the fields of cybersecurity, governance, and risk management, in a way that contributes to protecting the financial system and establishing confidence in the digital banking environment in the Kingdom.