Forrester report finds US tablet ownership doubled this year

Forrester Research has come out with its annual report on technology consumption in the US, and tablets are certainly gaining popularity.

Image source: Article

Although slightly lower than Pew Research's figures, Forrester deduced from its nigh 60,000-strong survey that 19 percent of 'mericans over the age of 18 own at least one tablet -- double the number the research outfit noted last year.

The whole report isn't available to the public, but why not use the time you would've spent reading it inspecting what's under the tree, and hoping you'll be responsible for upping those tablet stats in next year's report.

Read the blog to access the report.

Public WiFi Threats Dissected

You have heard the loudly voiced fears: Signing onto open, unmanaged, public WiFi networks is about as smart, and safe, as unprotected public sex with strangers.

Image source: Article

Everything up to and including identity theft is blamed on public WiFi -- and yet most of us continue to use it. A recent study, for instance, says 55 percent of mobile devices use public WiFi.

All the threats are reasonably accurately portrayed, but you know what is missing? Quantification of how often users on public WiFi networks are compromised and what costs or damages ensued.

Do you allow your members to bank online using public WiFi? Should you?

From CRM to “Big Data,” why a step back can be a step forward

Are banks in general shying away from technological advances, such as the use of “Big Data” analytics, because the issue is just too complex to get a handle on? Will mobile banking and mobile payments ever become mainstream, and, if so, when?

Image source: Article

A lot of banks can’t afford that kind of research and development and they depend on third parties.

Isn’t one of the arguments that if banks don’t do it, other competitors will?

What is your CU's position on Big Data? Read the article to see what other banks think.

Banks Spend Way More On Info Tech Than Any Other Business

Measured as a percentage of revenues, financial services firms spend more on IT than any other industry.

Image source: Article

The reasons for a higher use of IT in the banking industry are manifold. Financial service firms have to fulfill exacting regulatory requirements which translate into IT costs that do not contribute to the firms’ earnings.

Furthermore, banks rely heavily on IT in their back offices as well as their distribution channels.

How much does your CU spend on IT? Read the article to see how you stack up.

Using Data and Analytics to Fight Fraud

As financial institutions enhance the data they are willing to apply toward helping alleviate fraudulent activity, it could have a game-changing impact in the fight against fraud.

Image source: expetec1202

Fraud still poses a very real threat to financial institutions and businesses because, in most cases, they bear the majority of the financial burden.

Lawmakers have recently passed legislation designed to detect and protect consumers, businesses and financial institutions from a multitude of fraud schemes, but are laws alone enough to contain the rising threat of fraud?

Does your CU lean on laws to help protect against fraud? Read the article to see what the author of this article has to say.

Social Media: The Next Big Payments Platform?

Payments upstarts like Dwolla and Chirpify are aiming to capitalize on social media's popularity.

Image source: Article

But the question remains whether consumers will flock to a system that lets the world know what they're buying.

Watch the video to see where things are headed.

Managing Mobile Risk – Avoiding Information Governance Mine Fields

Despite the challenges, CUs can rein in the information governance risks with common sense and the latest technologies.

Image source: Article

Most Credit Unions don’t practice what they preach when it comes to information governance.

Centralized document management, formal information management lifecycles, and proof of governance policy enforcement have all become non-negotiable elements in many firms’ policy management and enforcement protocols. And they influence firms’ choices of technology.

What does your CU information governance program look like? Read the article to learn more.

DDoS Attacks Against US Banks Peaked At 60 Gbps

Some of the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that targeted the websites of U.S. financial institutions this week have peaked at 60 Gbps.

Image source: NSS Labs

A group calling itself "Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters" launched a series of DDoS attacks against the websites of several U.S. banks during September and October, severely disrupting online and mobile banking services for extended periods of time.

The attacks are not that much different from the ones in September and October. There are some changes in the tools being used, but they are not significant.

Most banks and their providers are better prepared to defend against DDoS attacks now than they were two months ago. How does your CU stack up?

Cyber Terrorists Threaten Fresh Attacks Against U.S. Banks

A group claiming to be aligned with Islamic terrorism that launched a massive attack against U.S. bank websites in the fall has threatened another round, set to start this week.

Image source: Article

n the last round of attacks, security experts told FOX Business the perpetrators created a so-called “botnet” of compromised Web servers that it used to carry out the attack. The Web servers, the experts said, provided more horsepower than the personal computers because of their higher-level access to Internet infrastructure and less limiting bandwidth restrictions.

Without spoiling the article, side channel attacks could threaten cloud security in a big way. It's best to be prepared. Read the article to start getting prepared.

Sophisticated Smartphone Hacking: 36 Million Euros Banking Theft

A sophisticated digital attack involving smart mobile phones has been used to steal 36 million euros or 47 million dollars from corporate and private banking customers across Europe.

Image source: Article

The attack appears to have emanated from cybercrime servers in the Ukraine.

Android and Blackberry mobile devices have been specifically targeted, showing that attacks against Android devices are now a growing trend.

What are your thoughts, observations and views? Read the article to read more about "ZITMO" or "Zeus-In-The-MObile".

Sophisticated Zeus Campaign Stole €36 Million From 30,000 Bank Accounts

The Eurograbber campaign, as it has been named, used custom versions of Zeus and Zeus in the mobile (ZITMO) Trojans to bypass the two-factor authentication measures to compromise customer bank accounts.

Image source: Article

The sophisticated Zeus campaign stole an estimated €36 million, or $47 million, from over 30,000 customers across more than 30 banks in Europe this summer.

The attack intercepted SMS messages sent to customers to confirm financial transactions.

Does your CU protect your SMS channel? Read the article to see how these banks fell victim to this expensive campaign.

Good Vault launches two-factor authentication for iPhones

Good Technology announced Good Vault, a system for adding two-factor authentication to the iPhone 4 and 4S for access to Good for Enterprise email.

Image source: Article

The system will be especially valuable for government agencies and companies in highly regulated industries, such as healthcare and financial services, where it's critical to ensure that data is protected from unauthorized users if an employee's smartphone is lost or stolen.

With the Vault system, one of two sleeves is attached to the iPhone: One that can read a smart card or one that can read a microSD card, he said. Once either of the sleeves is in place, inserting the microSD or smart card becomes one component of the two-factor identification process, while typing in a PIN is the second. Once authenticated, users would have access to Good for Enterprise email.

Read the article to learn more about protecting access to the iOS platform.

Using Cloud for Disaster Recovery

Use of cloud for DR solutions is becoming more common, even the organizations which are not using cloud for mission critical production applications are moving towards using cloud for application DR.

Image source: Article

The article covers some of the best practices and lessons learned from the Cloud DR solutions we have implemented so far.

What does your CU do for disaster recovery? Read the article to see all tips and tricks and best practices.

Bank Agrees to Reimburse Hacking Victim $300K in Precedent-Setting Case

In a case watched closely by banks and their commercial customers, a financial institution in Maine has agreed to reimburse a construction company $345,000 that was lost to hackers after a court ruled that the bank’s security practices were “commercially unreasonable.”

Image source: Article

People’s United Bank has agreed to pay Patco Construction Company all the money it lost to hackers in 2009, plus about $45,000 in interest, after intruders installed malware on Patco’s computers and stole its banking credentials to siphon money from its account.

Although the UCC places some burden on the customer to “exercise ordering care,” the court found that it was unclear what obligations a customer had when the bank’s security system was found to be commercially unreasonable.

How much does your CU have to lose for not taking the right steps to protect your members?

Online Service Offers Bank Robbers for Hire

An online service boldly advertised in the cyber underground lets miscreants hire accomplices in several major U.S. cities to help empty bank accounts, steal tax refunds and intercept fraudulent purchases of high-dollar merchandise.

Image source: Article

The service, advertised on exclusive, Russian-language forums that cater to cybercrooks, claims to have willing and ready foot soldiers for hire in California, Florida, Illinois and New York.

The proprietors of this service say it will take 40-45 percent of the value of the theft, depending on the amount stolen.

In 2010, the U.S. Justice Department targeted one such network in New York City, charging more than three dozen J1s with knowingly assisting in the theft of funds from organizations that had been victimized by cyber fraud. But was that enough? Read the article to find out more about these e-robbers.

Big Data in Banking: Driving Value in Next Best Action

It’s difficult to read a banking technology article or go to a conference without hearing about big data.

Image source: Article

Most of us now believe that big data is more than just hype, that it can offer business benefits to those that can leverage big data into new business capabilities.

But a common question I hear is “How does it relate to my day-to-day business? What does a “big data” business use case look like?”

What does Big Data look like for your CU?

Best BYOD management: Work zones for smartphones

Anthony Perkins wants employees at BNY Mellon to bring their personal smartphones to work and use those instead of company-issued BlackBerries to access business email, applications and data.

Image source: Scoop.it

But there's a catch: Not all employees are comfortable with the prospect of having their personal phones locked down and controlled as tightly as the BlackBerries that Perkins would like to phase out. That's where the notion of containerization comes in.

Because corporate apps and data are often mixed in with the user's personal content, mobile device management (MDM) tools tend to be very strict when it comes to managing corporate resources on users' phones. Usage policies often apply to the entire device, covering both personal and professional apps and data. Users may not be willing to give up control of their personal phones in exchange for the privilege of using them for business.

Where is your CU investing in BYOD? Mobile containers or MDM?

imsmartin presents identity theft trends and protections

Sean Martin, CISSP, and founder of imsmartin consulting, presented to a group of over 100 attendees during the Firefighter's National Credit Union Summit. The group represents the growing National Coalition of Firefighters Credit Unions.

Image source: Advioso

Identities are at the core of nearly everything that takes place within a credit union. And, with the number of fraudulent attempts to use a stolen identity increasing dramatically, credit unions must take a good hard look at how they are managing their members' and employees' identities - including the transaction auditing and access control mechanisms surrounding them.

In his presentation, Martin covered the following topics:

• Identity theft trends
• Detecting identity-based fraud
• Tips for consumers
• Tips for credit unions

Fill in the form at Advioso to obtain a copy of the presentation, along with a few identity theft protection whitepapers from content sponsors TeleSign, Guardtime, and CSID.

Cryptography attack: side-channel cloud threat is all nerd and no knickers

Side-channel attacks are nothing new. Their arrival in the cloud, or rather the potential for a side-channel approach to touch the cloud threat surface, most certainly is though; but is it something you need to worry about?

Image source: Article

In order to answer that, you first have to get your head around what a side-channel attack actually is.

Is the cloud safe from side-channel attacks on crypto keys in a real world scenario or not? Good question. The researchers suggest that there is room for a potential breach within the imperfect isolation of VMs found in public clouds, and advise that 'highly sensitive workloads' should not be stored there.

Without spoiling the article, side channel attacks could threaten cloud security in a big way. It's best to be prepared. Read the article to start getting prepared.

The Day A Computer Virus Came Close To Plugging Gulf Oil

The Shamoon scenario could repeat again with financial companies.

Image source: Article

“If this would happen to the three biggest banks in the U.K., all of their systems went down, all of their servers went down, [it would] mean that people can’t see their bank account online anymore, so they don’t know whether or not they still have money anymore. All the ATMs have a blue screen,” says Schenk.

Is your CU safe from these types of attacks?

Read the article to find out if you are prepared.