Data breaches

Online lenders' struggle with fraud is driving them to join new networks designed to find links between fraudulent loan applications and signs of borrowers trying to obtain multiple loans simultaneously.

The cyberattack on internet service provider Dyn that shut down websites all over the world showed the dangers posed by internet-connected things. That includes many machines commonly used in offices and branches.

The Wells Fargo scandal is an example of what happens when a system requires you to effectively hand over the keys to your identity to strangers as if you were giving them your car keys. Moreover, it is a call to banks to restore trust and become leaders in fixing the ID problem once and for all.

Small banks have limited resources to address cybersecurity, but more are turning to advisers and auditors to develop strategies that can keep them safe and compliant.

Institutions should define data "liabilities" and "assets" and represent them in a way that both touts data successes and is transparent about data gaps.

Yahoo says no bank account or card data has been compromised in its massive data breach. Yet hackers could use their ill-gotten personal information about customers to mess with bank accounts.

Some financial companies are leery of betting on an early-stage technology such as artificial intelligence for important jobs like combating account thefts, but PayPal says it works – especially in rooting out false alarms.

With even community banks getting hit by ransomware attacks, there's a long list of cybersecurity practices that bankers can expect their supervisors to scrutinize during upcoming exams.

A director at Citizens Independent Bancorp in Logan, Ohio, resigned after members of management chastised him for an email security breach.

Federal financial regulators are incorporating lessons learned from the Swift hacks in their examinations, they told a lawmaker in a joint letter last week.