Cybersecurity is a big concern for nearly every industry. But for the banking sector, that concern is paramount and the arms race to stay ahead of digital criminals requires innovative thinking. That’s why the London-based SWIFT Institute, set up by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications to enable cross-learning between academics and bankers, issued a challenge to teams of Canadian university students to come up with new ideas.

The winner, Team Pulse OS, devised a process that allows for reliable early detection by analyzing the unique power-use signatures on mobile devices. Team leader Nataliya Mykhaylova, who is pursuing a doctorate in chemical engineering at the University of Toronto, discussed her project with Knowledge at Wharton following her win at the October 2017 competition.…