On internet, you need cyber defense!

Dan Fisher

With over 35 years in the financial industry, Dan M. Fisher has proven himself as a leader in the financial industry holding roles as the former director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and former Chairman of the ABA Payment Committee.

You will be attacked—there is no doubt. Too many banks still rely on firewalls and passwords

Financial institutions are inextricably attached to the internet. If you were to conduct an enterprise-wide survey, you would most likely conclude that over 50% of your banking applications are powered by the cloud and that percentage is growing. Enter in the customer and their mobile lifestyle, be it business or pleasure, and you will find that the majority of your interaction is powered by internet-based services. And what cyber defense does your bank utilize today? A firewall! That’s it. Oh, and password rules that don’t expire. And no multifactor authentication. And monitoring 8-5 Monday through Friday. Add it up, there are more holes in the security systems at the average community financial institution than a field full of prairie dogs!

Time to rethink protection

It is clear we, as an industry, are at risk and this risk is growing exponentially.

Institutions need to think beyond the firewall and develop and implement an approach with a system that is “On Watch” and prepared to defend your enterprise all the time, anytime, 7x24x365!

Cyber security should take the form of a spherical defense, with your customers’ information in the middle and in the deepest part.

Your systems should be situationally aware and prepared to take immediate and decisive action when a potential compromise or attack is detected.

Tactics are critical here. You need to think this through. You do not want your response to be too late. Nor do you want to tip off the attacker that you are onto them; that in itself is valuable information to the intruder. Most community banks will need to hire a professional organization to assist them in developing the right defensive system.

No holidays for hackers

The sad scenario: Don’t be the CIO that tells the CEO on Tuesday after a three-day weekend that the bank was attacked, the database was hacked, and the customer data was stolen.

And that you did not check your email until Tuesday morning.

Attacks occur when you least expect them and at your weakest point.

Do you know your weaknesses? Your enemy does!

Start your own Department of Defense and be ready!