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Tech Talk: Biden's cybersecurity strategy, a U.S. CBDC, crypto and cyber risks, and more!

Biden's aggressive new cybersecurity strategy
U.S. advances toward developing a CBDC
FDIC OIG on crypto and cyber risks
Financial institution held liable for BEC losses
Big banks are banning ChatGPT AI
Big-box retailer and bank bridge lending gap for SMBs
A retail strategy banks can learn from
Barriers to a cashless society
FTC's top five scams
Spam, Scams & Breaches
Updates, Patches & Alerts
and on the lighter side...

Biden's aggressive new cybersecurity strategy
The Biden Administration has issued its long-awaited national cybersecurity strategy that aims to protect Americans, U.S. businesses, and the nation's digital infrastructure from cyber malfeasance and state-sponsored attacks that disrupt essential services, such as financial systems, healthcare, energy, water supply, and more. The policy document (which is not an executive order) calls for more mandates on tech firms that control most of the nation’s digital infrastructure, and an expanded government role to disrupt hackers and state-sponsored entities. FRB Services has the details.

U.S. advances toward developing a CBDC
In March 2022 President Biden issued an Executive Order directing federal agencies to study a central bank digital currency (CBDC), identify risks for innovation, and develop a roadmap to regulating digital assets. The EO directed the U.S. Treasury to lead a report on a CBDC in collaboration with interagency colleagues to determine if a digital dollar is sound policy for the U.S. to pursue. This week Under Secretary of Treasury Nellie Liang delivered a speech to the Atlantic Council outlining the agency’s plans for exploring a U.S. CBDC. Liang said the Treasury is actively developing tech for CBDC so they will be ready to move forward rapidly if a CBDC is determined to be in the national interest. Treasury.gov has the details.

FDIC OIG on crypto and cyber risks
Last month, financial regulators issued a warning to financial institutions about the risks associated with cryptocurrency and crypto-related activities. According to the FDIC's Office of Inspector General (OIG), more than 130 FDIC-insured banks are already engaging in or have planned crypto-related activities. The OIG released a new report highlighting crypto challenges and the rise in cybersecurity risks, among other areas of concern, impacting the financial sector today. Banking Dive has the details.

Financial institution held liable for BEC losses
Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks continue to be rank as the most expensive threats in the U.S. and the world. In 2021, BEC attacks accounted for more than one-third of all financial losses from cyberattacks, totaling nearly $2.4 billion in damage for the year. Between July and December 2022, there was an 81% increase in these costly crimes. A Virginia federal district court has found a credit union liable for a series of fraudulently directed funds it received in the commission of a BEC incident. The defrauded business and the court contend that the credit union "knew" about a mismatch in a transaction based on alerts generated by its AML monitoring software. DWT has the details.

Big banks are banning ChatGPT AI
As part of a broader move to ensure greater controls over third-party software in the heavily regulated financial industry, JPMorgan Chase announced that it is restricting employee use of the ChatGPT AI-powered chatbot. ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that interactions in a conversational way, has the potential for myriad applications across nearly all industries, including financial services. However, JPMorgan and other big banks are raising serious regulatory concerns about the technology. Fortune has the details.

Big-box retailer and bank bridge lending gap for SMBs
Walmart has teamed up with leading global bank Citi to offer the big-box retailer's 10,000 small business suppliers access to capital. The partners are collaborating to introduce the Bridge – a digital platform that connects SMBs with a network of more than 70 lenders (including more than 20 diverse financial institutions) that provide qualifying SMBs with loans of up to $10 million. PYMNTS.com has the details.

A retail strategy banks can learn from
Coined by highly successful retail founders, the popular motto "the customer is always right" refers to giving a high priority to customer satisfaction. A whitepaper released by global enterprise technology platform Lumen highlights how banks can learn from retailers' customer-centric strategies by leveraging technology to offer customers user-friendly and reliable experiences across all channels. PaymentsJournal has the details.

Barriers to a cashless payments society
Cashless payments – monetary transactions that are completed without the exchange of physical cash – have been heralded as the future of payments. A recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) estimates that global cashless payment volumes are set to increase from about 1 trillion transactions to almost 1.9 trillion (more than 80%) from 2020 to 2025, and almost triple by 2030. While there are benefits to a cashless society that is driving the trend upward, there are also barriers to consider before the concept can become a reality. ATM Marketplace has the details.

FTC's top five scams
Spring is in the air! Unlike the four seasons that usher in changes in the weather in most parts of the country, one thing that never changes is the perpetual actions of scammers who have one goal: to profit from the loss of others. According to the FTC, scammers were busy year round last year raking in a lot of dough. The agency's newly released FTC data book shows that consumers reported losing $8.8 billion to scams in 2022 – more than $2.6 billion over 2021! Investor scams (more than $3.8 billion) and imposter scams were among the top five scams of 2022. FTC has the details.

Spams, Scams, and Breaches

Updates, Patches, and Alerts...

See what other current hot cyber and technology topics affecting financial institutions BOL users are discussing in the Technology Forum.

And on the lighter side...

With Biden's increased focus on cybersecurity accountability and financial institutions being held liable for fraud and scams, it might be a good idea to incorporate some funny but serious impactful videos into your awareness training.

First published on 03/03/2023

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