UF cybersecurity professor Kevin Butler developed the framework, which spells out guidance for countries to prevent fraud and abuse on mobile cash apps. Cash apps are the prominent form of banking in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia and can leave people vulnerable to losing their life savings.

As mobile-money services were growing at a rapid clip in the developing world 10 years ago, University of Florida computer scientists and cybersecurity experts Dr. Butler and Dr. Patrick Traynor were early sentinels, raising concerns about the lack of security that could lead to real problems for the user.

In a 2014 study, the two professors from UF’s Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, uncovered security vulnerabilities of mobile cash apps, especially in the Global South, where such technologies were becoming essential in the absence of robust banking systems.

This article first appeared in a UF News article by Karen Dooley.