Coming together to address cyber challenges

By Julieann Thurlow

One concern that almost always rises to the top in banker conversations is cybersecurity. It’s now a major line item on our budgets, and it’s one of the things that keeps many of us up at night.

The sobering truth is that the cyber threat landscape has never been more complex than it is today — and the tactics are constantly growing in sophistication. We’ve already seen glimpses of how disruptive a large-scale cyberattack could be to our industry, like last November’s ransomware attack on the U.S. division of ICBC — a Chinese bank — that led to significant disruption in Treasury markets.

Generative artificial intelligence is now adding an even greater dimension of complexity to the cybersecurity equation, as the U.S. Treasury Department pointed out earlier this year in a new report.

But here’s the good news: for bankers, AI isn’t a novel concept. We’ve been responsibly employing AI and machine learning technologies longer than most other industries, applying it in any number of ways to help manage risk. And we have always worked diligently as an industry to stay one step ahead of the bad actors to keep our own infrastructure and our customers’ livelihoods safe and secure.

But we can’t do it alone. No bank — and no government agency, for that matter — can singlehandedly fight back against today’s current cyber threat landscape and hope to succeed. It takes all of us working together.

I have long believed that our industry is strongest when we work collaboratively — whether that’s coming together to address regulatory burden, advocate for commonsense policies in Congress, or combat rising cyber threats facing the banking industry.

ABA is leading the way, both in terms of forming critical partnerships with public and private stakeholders, and in ensuring that bankers will have the resources they need to combat cyber threats.

Earlier this year, we announced a new public-private partnership between ABA, the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council and the Treasury Department to combat AI-related fraud and cybersecurity threats to the financial system.

We are also looking forward to the return of our award-winning customer-facing campaign, #BanksNeverAskThat, which will launch during Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October. #BanksNeverAskThat helps educate bank customers about one specific type of cyber-enabled crime: phishing scams. Sign up to take advantage of the many free resources at aba.com/BanksNeverAskThat.

In addition, ABA’s Office of Innovation continues to engage with lawmakers and regulators, ensuring that bankers’ voices help shape future policies governing cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, customer data access and more. And as banks continually seek new solutions to manage cyber risk and keep their customers’ information safe, the recently launched ABA Partner Network will be there to connect bankers with the right solutions to meet their banks’ individual needs.

As I close out my last chair’s column, I’ll leave you with this: I have long believed that our industry is strongest when we work collaboratively — whether that’s coming together to address regulatory burden, advocate for commonsense policies in Congress, or combat rising cyber threats facing the banking industry.

As we look ahead to the end of 2024 and beyond, and whatever new challenges lie in store, I hope we always remember the many things that unite us as bankers: our commitment to a strong, vibrant economy, to the elevation of our customers and communities, and to a safe, sound and secure banking sector.

When we work together, I know we can achieve anything.

ABA Chair Julieann Thurlow is president and CEO of Redding Cooperative Bank in Redding, Massachusetts.