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Running a community bank means wearing a lot of hats, but keeping customer data safe is always at the top of the list. Even with the best intentions, monitoring blind spots poses a serious risk to your institution. Cyber threats evolve constantly, frequently shifting their capabilities and targets to bypass standard defenses. On top of […]
23
Feb
Feb
Remember when renewing your bank’s insurance policy felt like a formality? You’d sign a few papers, pay the premium, and get back to serving your customers. Those days are gone. Today, the questionnaire for cyber insurance for banks can feel more like a full-scope audit than a simple renewal application. Insurers have paid out massive […]
23
Feb
Feb
The notification just landed in your inbox: the examiners are coming. For many community bank IT officers, this moment triggers a scramble to update policies, gather logs, and double-check vendor contracts. But there is one document that often gets overlooked until the last minute—your network diagram. More specifically, your data flow diagram. It’s easy to […]
23
Feb
Feb
If you walked into your bank branch this morning, you likely passed through several layers of physical security without thinking about it. There’s the front door (accessible to everyone), the teller line (restricted to employees), the vault (highly restricted), and perhaps a safe deposit box area (customer-specific access). You wouldn’t leave the vault door wide […]
13
Feb
Feb
As a community bank, trust is your currency. But when you rely on third-party vendors to handle critical operations—from core processing to cloud storage—you are extending that trust outside your walls. While outsourcing services is essential for efficiency and innovation, it’s important to remember one golden rule: you can outsource the work, but you cannot […]
13
Feb
Feb
Think about your own attic or garage for a moment. Over the years, you accumulate boxes. Some contain holiday decorations you use once a year, others hold tax returns from a decade ago, and a few might even contain family heirlooms. If you don’t know what’s in those boxes or where they are, you can’t […]
03
Feb
Feb
ATM jackpotting sounds like something out of a movie, but it is a real threat for banks and credit unions. These attacks target the ATM itself, using malware or connected devices to force the machine to dispense cash. Community banks can be especially vulnerable when ATMs use outdated software, lack physical safeguards, or are not […]
13
Jan
Jan
Few things create more stress for a bank than an upcoming IT exam. Even well-run institutions can feel pressure as timelines tighten, documentation gets pulled together, and teams scramble to explain systems and decisions made months—or years—ago. The reality is this: the banks that feel the most confident during examinations aren’t necessarily the most technically […]
12
Jan
Jan
Remote and hybrid work are no longer temporary adjustments for community banks—they’re part of the operating reality. Employees, vendors, and service providers increasingly access systems outside the traditional branch network, and customers are visiting physical locations less often than ever. Our community bank security team has noticed that as more banks go remote with fewer […]
05
Jan
Jan
For community banks, IT oversight has never been more critical—or more complex. As technology becomes deeply embedded in every banking function, IT regulations are evolving to reflect how banks actually operate today: cloud-enabled, vendor-dependent, and increasingly exposed to cyber risk. If you’ve noticed examinations feeling more nuanced, more ongoing, and more focused on real-world risk […]
