Independent Banker - June 2022 - 21

Next: Can discomfort foster better results? 
activities surrounding each possible
incident, looking for anomalies in
installations and traffic flow to and
from the internet. " If an actual incident
is determined, the community bank's
process is to immediately bring in
forensic experts to isolate affected
systems, determine the full scope of the
events and identify possible exposures.
" We would then assemble the
incident response team, contact
regulators and law enforcement and
notify any customers who may have
been exposed, " says Wyatt. " We would
work to rebuild affected systems from
backups where possible and re-install
systems from scratch when necessary
to ensure that no portions of the
compromise still exist. "
The bank works hard to prevent
attacks with many defensive layers of
security. Wyatt says Texas Bank and
Trust Company also employs an incident
response program with the requisite
procedures for " resilient recovery. "
" We currently use a fraud detective
monitoring software program for our
daily fraud monitoring, " says Luke,
" [and] will be migrating to a new and
more robust fraud monitoring system
that is cloud-based and will detect
fraud from a peer group perspective.
In addition, we continue to work with
the Secret Service, FBI and local law
enforcement when applicable on fraud
issues as they arise. "
Fraud-fighting recommendations
According to Joel Williquette, senior
vice president, operational risk policy for
ICBA, there are steps community banks
can take to address issues of fraud and
cybercrime if and when they arise.
1. Tailor cybercrime training for
the home environment if your
bank still has " work from home "
employees. " Continue to educate
employees on how to recognize
phishing attacks and fraud not only
How ICBA can help
ICBA offers multiple cybersecurity and fraud resources that
community banks can use for themselves and with their employees
and customers. bit.ly/ICBAfraudresources
for the bank but also with your
customers, " Williquette says.
2. Understand the relationship that
you have with your vendors. That
includes knowing what information
the vendor houses and/or uses on
behalf of your bank, and how that
information is stored and protected.
" It is important that IT departments
not only map out their network,
but also have a good understanding
of how their network, systems
and data interact with third-party
vendor systems, even those on the
web, " says Williquette.
3. Focus on vendor management
for purchasing hardware and
software. " Hardware and software
that is manufactured in China
by Chinese companies should
be considered a higher risk than
similar products manufactured by
U.S. companies, either in the U.S. or
in China, " he says.
4. Review all your contracts to
understand their terms. Make
sure third-party service providers,
including core providers, are under
contract to accept responsibility
and liability should a breach or
incident originate at the third-party
service provider.
5. Deploy multifactor
authentication (MFA) internally.
Just as MFA reduces risk for their
customers, requiring vendors to
use it can help protect a bank's
systems. " True MFA is more than
a user's ID and passwords, " says
Williquette. " Along with usernames
and passwords, effective MFA uses a
secure app on phones or a physical
security device, like a card or key
fob. " And, he adds, username,
password and an authenticator
app or physical device create a
much more secure MFA than does
a username, password and then
verification through email, a phone
call or text message.
6. Secure your telecommunications.
Digital connections between
branches and third-party service
providers need to be encrypted
or secured in some other fashion.
" Should your telecommunications
company be hacked, you need an
additional layer of protection under
the bank's control, " he says.
7. Understand how your cyber
insurance covers your bank if a
breach or issue originates at a thirdparty
service provider, including a
core provider.
8. Always be prepared for a largescale
cyberattack. " It is expected
that the use of cyberattacks, by both
Russia and China, will continue to
grow, " says Williquette. " Both China
and Russia are primarily focused on
the theft of information. However,
they may turn their focus to
disruption, especially during times
when Chinese, Russian and U.S.
relations continue to be strained
due to global competition. " 
William Atkinson is a writer in Illinois.
independentbanker.org Q 21
http://www.bit.ly/ICBAfraudresources http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - June 2022

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