1Kosmos has announced that Nandkumar Saravade, the founding CEO of Reserve Bank Information Technology Pvt Ltd (ReBIT), has joined its Board of Advisors. Nandkumar brings over 35 years of security expertise in the domains of fraud prevention, law enforcement, banking and regulation to 1Kosmos.
According to research conducted by Group-IB, a cybersecurity research firm based in Singapore, India ranked third globally and first in the Asia-Pacific region in the list of 111 countries affected by a worldwide cyberattack involving a syndicate of cybercriminals stealing passwords through a concerted phishing campaign. The study found that the cybercrime group Telegram infected 19,249 devices in the last ten months of 2021 in India, while the number grew to 53,988 in the first seven months of 2022. The hackers were able to retrieve 117,645,558 cookie files, 4,547,020 passwords, details of 4,657 bank cards and 4,428 sets of crypto wallet information.
“Nandkumar is internationally recognized for his expertise in financial services, fraud prevention and compliance,” said Hemen Vimadalal, Founder and CEO, 1Kosmos. “His extensive experience and various roles he has played at service providers and governments on financial cybersecurity, and his industry relationships, will help 1Kosmos extend our leadership in banking and other key vertical markets in India and the Asia Pacific.”
Nandkumar Saravade has served as a senior executive and advisor to government and private sector organizations for more than three decades and is sought for his expertise on governance, strategy, ethics and cyber security. In addition to being the founding CEO of Reserve Bank Information Technology Pvt Ltd (ReBIT) for five years, he has held senior management and advisory roles in banking with ICICI Bank and Citi, consulting with EY, and industry associations including NASSCOM and DSCI that spanned risk management, policy outreach and greenfield innovation. Prior to joining the private sector, Nandkumar served in the Indian Police Service for 21 years, including seven years in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“1Kosmos is addressing the root of the problem in online and financial fraud, which is identity verification and passwordless authentication,” said Nandkumar Saravade. “I am delighted to join the company as an advisor, and I look forward to helping advance the adoption of their technology. 1Kosmos not only improves security and the user experience, but the BlockID platform also helps make the world more resilient to cyber fraud.”