Data security

With financial institutions relying more and more on cloud computing services, Washington is increasingly focused on the concentration of industry data in the big three technology giants.

Fincen and others say third parties are proving to be treasure chests for crooks who create synthetic identities, but aggregators argue they help detect risk banks can’t see.

Visa is leaning more heavily on its Issuers’ Clearinghouse Service to help banks combat the rise of synthetic fraud, which it attributes in part to a security measure adopted by the Social Security Administration years ago.

Congress should consider acting quickly or companies could treat the Golden State's new data privacy restrictions as a national standard.

Microsoft Corp., Mastercard Inc. and the Hewlett Foundation are funding a new organization that is planning to help dissidents and other vulnerable groups across the world defend against hackers.

Members of the House Financial Services Committee cited leveraged lending, cybersecurity and the switch to a new interest rate benchmark among potential systemic risks that keep them up at night.

Credit union priorities could take a back seat as Congress scrambles to pass a spending package to avoid a government shutdown. Here's a look at some of the proposals that could move forward.

Kenneth Blanco expressed concern in a speech about cyber criminals using "synthetic identities" to commit fraud with data stolen from fintech platforms.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, proposed having the central bank update Congress on measures to strengthen its own cybersecurity as well as that of institutions under its watch.

The bank has developed APIs to feed customer data directly to seven fintechs and data aggregators, including MX and Finicity.

Congress should consider acting quickly or companies could treat the Golden State's new data privacy restrictions as a national standard.

The race against high-tech fraudsters has always motivated the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, but for too long the council's process for establishing new standards wasn't looking ahead to the next threat.

Democratic lawmakers and consumer advocates say the remedies offered to consumers by firms like Capital One and Equifax are too difficult to access and not particularly helpful.

Staying on top of new threat sources isn’t easy, but things will keep getting worse if we can’t openly discuss the matter, says Monica Eaton-Cardone, COO of Chargebacks911 and CIO of its parent company Global Risk Technologies.

Nitin Mhatre of Webster Financial explains why the Consumer Bankers Association — whose members want a bigger piece of the student lending market — backs legislation that would make the federal government tell borrowers how much they will ultimately owe, as private lenders are already required to do.

Regulators are letting banks choose from among four security frameworks, but some observers are urging a more prescriptive approach.

The money will help 155 institutions with outreach, security, training and more.

The lawmakers, including Sens. Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren, sent the bank a letter focusing on customers' difficulty enrolling in credit monitoring and identity protection services.

The company still intends to shut down its data centers next year even as the recent hacking that exposed the data of some 100 million people raised questions about its aggressive embrace of cloud computing.

Speaking during NAFCU's Congressional Caucus, a leader from the U.S. Department of Treasury said credit unions can help the agency improve how consumers are notified in the event of a data breach.