ABA Banking Journal: FS-ISAC releases framework to help financial institutions fight phishing
November 20, 2024
The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center this week published a framework of recommended best practices to help financial services institutions counter phishing attacks. The report — “Stop the scams: A phishing prevention framework for financial services” — lists strategies to counter phishing, noting that three U.S. banks reported a 50% reduction in text abuse scams after implementing its recommendations.
According to an FS-ISAC summary, the framework’s recommendations fall into four broad categories: collecting intelligence from consumers and sharing it among a firm’s departments, employees and customer education; maintaining a catalog of telephone numbers used by the institution and third-party partners to prevent spoofing; and collaborating with telecommunications providers to deploy anti-phishing solutions.
The framework also recommends that institutions implement two best practices. First, institutions should design a fraud and phishing intake process with clear, concise questions to gather actionable intelligence while minimizing the burden on consumers. Second, they should set up an “abuse box” infrastructure, enabling consumers to report phishing attempts.
In related news, the American Bankers Association’s media campaign — #BanksNeverAskThat — provides banks with free resources to educate customers about phishing threats.
CISA News: Was Amazon Hacked? No—Your Account And Password Have Not Been Compromised. Here’s What You Need To Know
November 13, 2024 | Davey Winder, Senior Contributor, Forbes
Amazon has confirmed that some data was breached during the spate of MOVEit software exploits that started during May 2023. The MOVEit cyber attacks hit several large organizations, including the BBC, British Airways, Shell and several government agencies, as hackers targeted a critical SQL injection vulnerability, CVE-2023-34362, in the software. But as the news breaks, more than a year on, that Amazon data was breached, customers now want to know if their accounts are safe and whether they should change their passwords.
Amazon Has Not Experienced A Security Event, A Spokesperson Said
A statement released by Amazon spokesperson Adam Montgomery on Nov. 11 has clarified the nature of the data breach and denied that Amazon or Amazon Web Services had “experienced a security incident.” The MOVEit exploit impacted an unnamed third-party property management vendor that includes Amazon as one of its customers. “We were notified about a security event at one of our property management vendors that impacted several of its customers including Amazon,” the Amazon spokesperson, Adam Montgomery, said.
The good news is that there would appear to be no impact upon customer accounts or credentials. “The only Amazon information involved was employee work contact information,” Montgomery said, “for example, work email addresses, desk phone numbers, and building locations.”
What Do Security Professionals Say About The News That Hackers Have Accessed Amazon Employee Data?
Forbes contributor Lars Daniel said the breach was carried out by a threat actor going by the name of Nam3L3ss — oh, the irony. They recently posted data from 25 organizations, including Amazon, and warned there is an archive in excess of 250TB that includes “entire databases from exposed web sources including mysql, postgres, SQL Server databases and backups, azure databases and backups etc."
While it is, obviously, good news that Amazon customer data was not impacted by the MOVEit breach, the bad news is that third-party supplier security continues to be in the hacker crosshairs. "This update to an older vulnerability exploit reinforces how third-party software remains one of the largest and least manageable cybersecurity risks organizations face,” Joe Silva, CEO at cybersecurity vendor Spektion, said, “including large and technically sophisticated enterprises.”
While the MOVEit attacks from last year haven’t had anywhere near the same media coverage this year, it’s old news to a large degree, this latest update shows that attackers are continuing to monetize the compromised data. “Nam3L3ss is not thought to be a part of the initial MOVEit attack,” Kevin Robertson, chief operating officer at Acumen Cyber, said, “but some of its data has landed in their hands, which provides evidence of how stolen data markets across the dark web.” The Amazon update also serves as a timely reminder, Robertson said, “for organizations to prioritise their supply chain resilience, because once data is stolen and ends up on the dark web, it rarely goes away.”
There are many lessons to be learned from both the original MOVEit compromise of an Amazon third-party contractor and the fallout that has continued in the many months that followed. “One of the main lessons is that any place where your data resides is a place that data can be compromised,” Roger Grimes, data-driven defense evangelist at KnowBe4, said. “Every vendor relationship that either has access to your network and data or who you send data to, for whatever reason, is a new place for a potential compromise.”
Some Amazon Customers Are Convinced That Their Data Was Compromised And Used Fraudulently Following The MOVEit Cyber Attack
Since the publication of this news story, I have been contacted by numerous Amazon customers across various methods of communication but with one thing in common: they insist that their accounts were hacked during the MOVEit attack in 2023. The problem here is that an article such as this one stars up memories of events past and, without wishing to patronize anyone who has found themselves victim to an account compromise, made connections that simply aren’t there. I apologize for not replying to all of you individually, that would simply have taken too much time, but if you are reading this be assured that just because your account was compromised around Black Friday or Cyber Monday week, or earlier in 2023, does not mean that MOVEit hackers were to blame. Another common thread connecting those who contacted me was that phrase “I clicked on the link which took me straight to my Amazon account.” This is, I’m afraid, the giveaway that these were opportunist phishing attacks taking advantage of interest in the Black Friday sales, and nothing more.
Therefore, the advice that Amazon customers do not need to change their passwords or check their credit cards for signs of fraud reasons the same.
ABA Banking Journal: Banks, credit unions urge lawmakers to reject new credit card mandates
November 18, 2024
Any legislative initiatives to expand the power of the federal government to intervene in the U.S. credit card market would harm small businesses and consumers across the country, the American Bankers Association and seven bank and credit union associations said in a joint letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold a hearing on the issue Tuesday.
In the letter, the associations expressed their strong opposition to the Credit Card Competition Act, a retailer-backed bill that would impose network routing requirements on banks that issue credit cards, and any attempt to expand the Durbin amendment. The groups also expressed disappointment with the committee’s decision to hold the hearing during the lame-duck session of Congress and not invite testimony from community banks or credit unions harmed by the proposal. Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is co-sponsor of the Credit Card Competition Act along with Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Iowa).
The negative repercussions of the Durbin amendment are still being felt nearly 15 years after it was signed into law,” the groups wrote. “A 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office found that if the Durbin amendment ‘had not been implemented, 65% of noninterest checking accounts offered by covered banks would have been free.’”
The groups said that imposing regulations on credit card interchange fees will lead to similar consumer harm, citing recent research that estimates the Durbin-Marshall bill would raise the cost of checking account services to consumers by $1.3 to $2 billion a year. They also noted the bill will “open the door to fraud, hamper rewards programs, and limit the allocation of credit to individuals and small businesses.”
The letter also highlighted survey data that shows U.S. consumers value their cards and oppose the federal government reaching into their wallets.
FinCEN Releases Commercial on Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network this week released a new video and radio commercial to educate business owners on the new beneficial ownership information reporting requirements. It is part of a larger public outreach campaign by the agency, which includes a dedicated website and videos on BOI reporting.
FinCEN last month issued a notice to financial institution customers about BOI reporting, explaining why certain customers must report directly to the agency in addition to giving information to their banks, which are subject to the customer due diligence rule.
2025 Scenes of South Dakota Calendar
Extra copies of our 2025 Scenes of South Dakota Calendar are available to purchase. This newly designed calendar features photo submissions by South Dakota bankers, their family members, and friends.
Virtual: January 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 & 30 | 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Central Time
Participants will learn how to assess and analyze a bank’s financial performance by working with data from real institutions. Using financial statements from one sample financial institution along with statements from their own banks, participants will become familiar with the ins and outs of balance sheets and income statements and learn how to apply key performance metrics to the data presented in these documents.
Having learned how to interpret and analyze a bank’s financial statements, participants will gain deeper insight into the factors affecting bank performance. Later sessions in this course will address ways in which performance may be hindered or improved by funding strategies and risk management. Ultimately, participants will be able to review a bank’s financial statements to identify strengths and weaknesses and be able to recommend changes that will lead to improved performance.
In the final session of this course, participants will put what they have learned into practice. Participants will analyze a new data set, rate the bank’s performance and suggest strategic adjustments that might benefit the bank.
Electronic Transmission Levy Options Now Available
Enroll in IRS eLevy Program
The Internal Revenue Service Electronic Levy (eLevy) is a program that makes delivery of levies more efficient and convenient for banks nationwide. The IRS is seeking participants to enroll in this innovative program. By partnering, we can reduce incoming paper Notice of Levies (Forms 668W and Forms 668A), decrease third party paper routing mishaps, lessen the need for paper document storage, and improve electronic document retention.
Enrolled eLevy participants have noted efficiencies and cost savings from the program. They also report the eLevy process simplifies sharing and tracking levy garnishment documents with their outside payroll servicers. eLevy is available to all banking institutions and businesses, both governmental and private sector.
The benefits of eLevy are:
Simple to enroll.
No enrollment fees or costs to participate.
Banking institutions can participate in eLevy at both the customer and employer levels.
Receipt of electronic levies to a designated fax number established by participants.
Reduced incoming mail, overhead and handling time.
Reduced calls from the IRS for delivery confirmation.
How eLevy works:
Electronic levies will be digitally signed and include a coversheet with the name and fax number of the initiating IRS employee.
Part 3 of Forms 668-A and 668-W responses may be faxed to the originating IRS employee’s eFax number when no levy proceeds are attached.
Q: We have a prospective employee who was charged with possession of marijuana years ago. Does Section 19 of the FDI Act prevent them from being assigned an NMLS number?
A: As far as Section 19 of the FDI Act (as revised by the Fair Hiring in Banking Act), the recent final rule that went into effect as of October 1st, 2024 made a specific exemption from its "covered offenses" for offenses involving the possession of controlled substances, going on to say that “(t)his exclusion may also apply to other drug-related offenses depending on the statutory elements of the offenses or from court determinations that the statutory provisions of the offenses do not involve dishonesty, breach of trust, or money laundering, as noted in paragraph (b) of this section.”
Other offenses not included within the final rule include a misdemeanor criminal offense committed more than one year before the date on which an individual files a consent application (excluding any period of incarceration), and certain older offenses, meaning either it has been 7 years or more since the offense occurred, or the individual was incarcerated with respect to the offense and it has been 5 years or more since the individual was released from incarceration.
But keep in mind that there may be many additional considerations in this vein when it comes to whether an individual can be assigned an NMLS, including state-specific law and even the specific license being sought. For example, the NMLS Federal Registry explains that new registrants must meet the same felony standards as state-licensed MLOs, with those standards being the following: no felony within the past 7 years; no felony at any time that involves fraud, dishonesty, a breach of trust, or money laundering. Similarly, the NMLS Policy Guidebook informs us that an applicant would be disqualified if they had been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony that would preclude licensure in the application state; as such, this would depend - respectively - on the state-specific definitions of those offenses, which may require additional considerations for time of conviction, etc.