SDBA Seeking Candidates for Board Elections

Elections for the SDBA’s Board of Directors are scheduled for April. Three seats are up for election: Group II, Small Community Banks Category and Large Community and Regional Banks Category.

• Group II: This seat is currently held by Pennie Lutz, Richland State Bank, who is eligible to run for a second three-year term.
• Small Community Banks Category: This seat is currently held by Keith Knuppe, BankNorth, who is eligible to run for a second three-year term.
• Large Community and Regional Banks Category: This seat is currently held by Nate Franzen, First Dakota Bank, who is eligible to run for a second three-year term.

If you are interested in running for one of the Board seats, please contact one of the nominating committee members by March 20, 2024. Please also submit a short bio and headshot photo for the voting ballot to Halley Lee at [email protected]. Newly elected SDBA Board members will take office on May 1, 2024, and serve a three-year term expiring April 30, 2027.

REGISTRATION OPEN: 2024 SDBA Exploring AI in Banking Webinar | March 13

We still have spots available for our FREE webinar: Exploring AI in Banking on Wednesday, March 13 at 10 a.m. CDT/9 a.m. MDT. Although this is a free webinar and open to all bankers, registration is required so that we can adequately manage our Zoom account. Brooke Ybarra, Senior Vice President of Innovation & Strategy with the ABA will present her discussion around artificial intelligence (AI) has been unavoidable over the past year as ChatGPT captured the public’s imagination. In this session we will develop a foundation for understanding what AI is, the opportunities and risks that must be weighed, and potential use cases for banks. We’ll also explore policymaker reactions and activity. Click here to register.

SDBA Hosting the 2024 Spring IRA Update in Sioux Falls, SD | March 21

The SDBA will host the 2024 Spring IRA Update in Sioux Falls, SD, at the Hyatt Place South on Thursday, March 21. The IRA Update builds on your knowledge of IRA basics to address some of the more complex IRA issues your financial organization may handle. This course includes how the transitions rules work, RMDs and death distributions. We will also discuss amending documents. This is a specialty session; some previous IRA knowledge is assumed. The instructor uses real-world exercises to help participants apply information to job-related situations. IRA administrators, personal bankers, or member services personnel who have a working knowledge of basic IRA operations and wish to expand their expertise and provide enhanced customer service; a financial professional who recognizes that IRAs play an integral role in retirement planning; a compliance specialist with procedural oversight of IRA policies and practices; or support personnel responsible for promotional materials that describe the services provided by your financial organization are among some of the targeted bank employees who should consider attending. Click here to learn more and register.

'On the Road Again...': SDBA's 'This is How We Roll' Events Coming to a Town Near You!

Time to dust off the road trip playlist, the SDBA is taking their show back on the road and coming to a town near you this spring! You may recall, in spring 2022, we hit the road to visit with our bankers across the state to share just exactly how the SDBA rolls, and it was a huge success! So, back by popular demand, we're coming back for Roll Part Deux! We're finalizing the agenda as we speak, but save the date and plan to join us at one of these FREE events:

Registration is required. Our loose agenda includes a short program, presented by Karl Adam, part of which will recap our 2024 Legislative Session, and we'll wrap with a light lunch. Did I mention there will be a drawing for a door prize? We hope to see you soon!

Room Rate Deadline is Friday, Feb. 23 for ABA Washington Summit

The deadline for the special hotel room rate for the upcoming ABA Washington Summit is Friday, Feb. 23. Keynote speakers at this year’s Summit—taking place March 18-20—include Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), political strategists Donna Brazile and Mike Murphy, and The Points Guy founder Brian Kelly. ABA will also host three ancillary forums in conjunction with the event: the Mutual Community Bank Forum, the Emerging Leaders Forum and the Women and Allies Forum. Registration for all Summit-related programming is free. Learn more and register. The SDBA is attending, and we still have opportunities for bankers, emerging leaders included, to apply for scholarship/stipends to attend the Summit! Contact Halley Lee to learn more.

ABA Podcast: How flexible is your core? A new tool to help assess

“We’re really focused on increasing competition and innovation in the core provider landscape,” says ABA Core Platforms Committee Chair Kristiane Koontz. “We want to make sure that people know core conversions are an option, and we want to help make that easier and less risky for banks to undertake. But in many cases, a core conversion may not be the right path.”

On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, the host catches up with Koontz at the Conference for Community Bankers to discuss the committee’s recent work on core resilience and competition, as well as the committee’s plans for 2024. The show also features past chair D.J. Seeterlin of Chesapeake Bank on the committee’s newly released Core Provider Flexibility Assessment, a tool to help banks identify what the need to power their strategies. Click here to listen.

CISA News: WIN: Remote Access Trojan (RAT) representatives arrested

Federal authorities have seized internet domains and arrested two men in Malta and Nigeria who they say served as sales and customer service reps for a dark web business that sold RAT malware to cybercriminals over a 12-year period, leading to the "takeover and infection of computers worldwide."

According to a U.S. Justice Department statement on Friday, authorities in Malta arrested Daniel Meli, 27, of Zabbar, Malta, on Wednesday at the DOJ's request. Meli, who made his initial appearance before a magistrate judge in Valletta, Malta, is facing charges from a federal grand jury indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia returned on Dec. 12, 2023, which accuses him of causing unauthorized damage to protected computers, illegally selling and advertising an electronic interception device, and participating in a conspiracy to commit several computer intrusion offenses.

Authorities said he marketed, sold and maintained two widely used strains of malware - Warzone RAT and an earlier version known as the Pegasus RAT - in online computer-hacking forums since at least 2012.

"Specifically, Meli allegedly assisted cybercriminals seeking to use RATs for malicious purposes and offered teaching tools for sale, including an eBook," the DOJ said. "He sold through an online criminal organization called Skynet-Corporation. He also provided online customer support to purchasers of both RATs."

Authorities in Boston seized www.warzone.ws and three related domains that "sold the Warzone remote access Trojan, which gives cybercriminals the ability to" browse victim file systems, take screenshots, record keystrokes, steal victim usernames and passwords, and watch victims through their web cameras."

FBI agents in Massachusetts covertly bought and analyzed the Warzone RAT malware and confirmed its malicious capabilities, according to court documents.

Also arrested on Wednesday was Prince Onyeoziri Odinakachi, 31, of Nigeria, by the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. A federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on Jan. 30 indicted Odinakachi for conspiracy to commit multiple computer intrusion offenses, including obtaining authorized access to protected computers to obtain information and causing unauthorized damage to protected computers. The DOJ said that between June 2019 and March 2023, Odinakachi provided customers with online support for Warzone RAT.

The takedown encompassed an international law enforcement operation led by FBI special agents in Boston and Atlanta and coordinated through Europol. Law enforcement agencies in Canada, Croatia, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and Romania helped secure the servers hosting the Warzone RAT infrastructure.

"Today's actions targeting the Warzone RAT infrastructure and personnel are another example of our tenacious and unwavering commitment to dismantling the malware tools used by cybercriminals," said Joshua S. Levy, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts.

Link to original article.

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