Darktrace, the world’s leading AI company for cyber defense, has today announced that Compte-Nickel has deployed the Enterprise Immune System. The leading French alternative banking service will safeguard the sensitive data of its customers against sophisticated cyber-threats, including external attacks and insider threat, with Darktrace’s AI technology.

Compte-Nickel enables individuals to open a bank account in under five minutes by visiting one of over 2,800 French tobacconists with a piece of identification and a mobile telephone, marking a shift from traditional banking services in France. Majority-owned by BNP Paribas, Compte-Nickel does not have any minimum income, deposit or personal wealth requirements. The company boasts over 750,000 accounts open since its inception four years ago, with customers carrying out in excess of 5,000,000 transactions every month.

Our customers rely on us to keep their data safe and their money readily available – upholding this trust is integral to our business,” commented Nicolas Agnan, CISO at Compte-Nickel. “The financial services industry is a prime target for cyber criminals, with novel, stealthy attacks bypassing traditional defenses every day. The Enterprise Immune System doesn’t rely on any prior knowledge of what ‘bad’ looks like, or on training data sets. Instead, it continually learns on the job, detecting threats that other tools miss and responding with surgical actions faster than a human can.”

Darktrace’s AI technology mimics the self-learning intelligence of the human immune system to detect and autonomously defend against pernicious cyber-attacks in real time. Powered by machine learning and AI algorithms, the pioneering technology learns what is ‘normal’ for every user and device on a network and can identify threats as they emerge. Darktrace Antigena can then autonomously stop in-progress attacks as they unfold on the network, before they have caused damage.

The cyber-threat is now ubiquitous and networks are more complex than ever,” commented Emmanuel Meriot, Country Manager, France and Spain at Darktrace. “Humans alone can no longer keep up with the sheer sophistication and pace of attacks. Darktrace has a four-year head-start in applying machine learning to the challenge of cyber-defense, enabling organizations like Compte-Nickel to stay ahead of sophisticated cyber-attacks.”