Regulators release cybersecurity best practices for banks

State bank regulators and the U.S. Secret Service recently released a list of best practices for banks in managing risks related to certain cyber threats.

The Bankers Electronic Crimes Task Force, which is comprised of bank CEOs and executive officers from banks across the U.S., identified major cyber threats facing financial institutions and developed the industry best practices. Task force members include community banks with assets ranging from $90 million to $7.8 billion in total assets, according to a news release by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors.

The group identified four cyber threats of particular focus for banks including:

Large-value funds transfers — Unauthorized wire transfers of millions to billions in funds.
Ransomware — A form of extortion that uses malicious software to encrypt a device or data, and demands payment for access.
Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) — An attempt to prevent users from accessing information or services, such as by overloading the capacity of a bank’s website.
ATM jackpotting/cash-out — An illegitimate attempt to dispense cash from an ATM.

The release of the industry best practices is part of a larger effort by state bank regulators and federal authorities to combat cybercrime. In the past, state and federal authorities have hosted webinars, issued a cybersecurity assessment tool and held executive briefings to inform bank CEOs about the cyber threat landscape and ways to cyber risks, according to the CSBS news release.

The Bankers Electronic Crimes Task Force was modeled after the U.S. Secret Service’s Electronic Crimes Task Force but developed exclusively for the community banking industry. The Texas and Massachusetts state banking departments worked on the initiative with the CSBS and 11 other banking departments, the release stated.

To learn more about the cyber threats and best practices, click here.

By |2019-11-25T05:37:19-06:00July 7th, 2017|Financial Services|0 Comments

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