Dun & Bradstreet To Introduce Cyber Risk Solutions in 2020

Dun & Bradstreet, a global provider of business data through its flagship Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS), is taking a hard look at risk, from cyber to ESG to business ownership structure.

First on the firm’s agenda is cyber, and the firm expects to hit the market in 2020 with some new solutions to help customers better onboard third parties.

Brian Alster, general manager of third-party risk and compliance solutions at Dun & Bradstreet, recalls the 2013 cyber breach that hit Target, compromising about 40 million credit card accounts. The attack was ultimately traced back to its HVAC vendor.

More and more, Alster says companies are not only tasked with managing their own cyber risk, but the cyber risk of their various vendors and counterparts. It’s a tough problem, but it’s a problem that might be best addressed at the outset, with a solution that looks at the predictability of a breach long before there’s a chance for one.

Real Estate & UBO

Keeping with the theme of adding transparency, Alster is closely monitoring the real estate industry, a historically illiquid segment of the market that’s ripe for nefarious activities, like money laundering, due to complex LLC or corporation structures.

“Individuals that maybe aren’t allowed to move money because they’re on sanctions lists or other blacklists would be able to do so through corporations where the owners aren’t known,” Alster says. “The whole goal is to hide behind the veil of a corporation so that you don’t actually know that a Russian oligarch, who is not allowed to make a transaction or do business in the US, is buying a penthouse in New York.”

In 2016, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued the Customer Due Diligence (CDD) Rule, giving financial institutions two years to comply. As of 2018, companies are required to get ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) data on any commercial real estate transaction. As a result, continuing to grow the company’s UBO data and capabilities remains mission critical.

Alster and his colleague Tom Cosgrove, global head of product, are looking at blockchain as a possible aide in the UBO dilemma, though Cosgrove notes it can be a double-edged sword.

“Blockchain has been used for a long time in the underworld to pay for goods and services without being known. Where Dun & Bradstreet is starting to work with various large blockchain companies and consortiums is to help identify both sides of the transaction before the transaction happens, so that in a millisecond, we can identify what the DUNS number is of the buyer and of the seller, then put that through on the ledger so there’s an audit trail on the blockchain,” Cosgrove says.

The company has been working with these partners for more than a year, and some in-the-works initiatives include helping to track products from when they’re grown in the ground to stocked in a store, shipping and logistics, and detecting potential financial crimes.

ESG

To stay ahead of the curve, the company is keeping its finger on the pulse of the regulatory environment, but not all the areas they’re focusing on are driven by the regulators, says Alster.

Just as important, he says, are the demands and questions now being raised by C-suites and shareholders: corporate responsibility and ESG issues.

Dun & Bradstreet, which already has data on about 335 million businesses worldwide, is collecting more ESG-related data for those companies. Though there isn’t a specific product on the horizon yet, the company is solving for clients’ supply-chain compliance issues, and wants to provide definitive insights on whether customers and suppliers are managing responsible businesses.

“We want to come at this with a more holistic approach, which is something that you’ll see from us in 2020,” Alster says.