Independent Banker - October 2017 - 7

Fine Points
By Camden R. Fine, president and CEO of ICBA
Be cyber ready
Y
ou can never be quite sure of what
tomorrow will hold. Will other natural
disasters like Hurricane Harvey or Hurricane
Irma devastate our communities? Will
another large-scale data breach compromise
consumer financial information? Will hackers
manage to find their way into another company's
server-or into a bank's data?
These are all questions that weigh on business
leaders' minds, regardless of the industry. We
can't escape them, but we can heed warnings,
anticipate the worst and proactively develop
plans to protect our customers and businesses.
October may be National Cybersecurity
Awareness Month, but community banks are
dedicated to protecting our customers' personal
and financial data today and every day. This is
part of what makes our relationship banking
business model so special. Customer protection
is at the heart of community banks' cyber strategy,
just as it is for disaster preparedness or any
other business recovery plan.
We must remember that cybercriminals are
sophisticated actors seeking to exploit personal
and systemic vulnerabilities for financial gain.
That's why ICBA is focused on helping community
bankers address the growing challenge of
cybersecurity, arming them with the information,
resources and partnerships they need to
safeguard their institutions and their customers.
As a first line of defense, ICBA is an actively
engaged member of the Financial Services Information
Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC)
and the Financial Services Sector Coordinating
Council (FSSCC). The majority of community
banks are also members of FS-ISAC. FS-ISAC is
the global financial industry's go-to resource for
cyber and physical threat intelligence analysis
and sharing. If banks are not members of the
FS-ISAC, they can share cyberthreat and mitigation
information through the Department of
Homeland Security's Automated Indicator Sharing
portal. Participating in these groups is key to
protecting our institutions and our customers.
ICBA is also a founding board member of
Sheltered Harbor, an industry-led organization
that is part of the FS-ISAC. It provides rapid
restoration of customer account data after a
cyberattack or other debilitating event. Similar
to a fallout shelter, Sheltered Harbor is the
answer if all other disaster recovery options have
been exhausted. Community banks and financial
institutions of all sizes have the opportunity to
become members of Sheltered Harbor-a major
step toward being prudent and poised in today's
" when, not if " cyber reality (see page 11).
Sheltered Harbor combines proactive, secure
data storage with a cooperative recovery plan to
get your customers through a major cyberattack
faster than you would on your own. By storing
your institution's data in Sheltered Harbor's
industry-standard format, a peer institution
or core service provider can restore account
information, resulting in minimized impact to
customers. Participating in Sheltered Harbor is
affordable, proactive and smart.
When the worst-case scenario could happen
tomorrow, it's important to know you're not
alone. You have resources and groups like
FS-ISAC, FSSCC and Sheltered Harbor looking
out for your bank and your customers. You also
have ICBA, coordinating, advocating and communicating
what you need on the cyber front.
Community bankers, we are in this cyber war
together. No matter what tomorrow holds, you
can rest assured that ICBA is there with you
every step of the way.
Follow Camden R. Fine on Twitter,
@Cam_Fine.
independentbanker.org
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Independent Banker - October 2017

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