Data security

Chief executives from across the business world are set to join President Biden for a discussion Wednesday on how industry and the federal government can partner to improve cybersecurity in the face of debilitating ransomware and cyberattacks.

Infrastructure will command most of lawmakers’ attention, but expect banks to keep pushing for bills that would ease the transition away from a key benchmark rate and help them serve legal cannabis businesses.

Whether it’s ransomware or a natural disaster, a sudden freeze on operations can be devastating, and the recent incident highlights why mortgage industry businesses must constantly review their data security efforts.

While the company did notify the public and regulators in May 2019, executives were not aware at the time that there was previous knowledge of the security vulnerability within the company.

With the Colonial Pipeline attack still in the news, bank CEOs testifying at a recent hearing cited cyber risk as the biggest threat facing the industry. But members of Congress did not share those concerns, and instead were more focused on criticizing banks about overdraft fees and their level of investment in minority communities.

There is no doubt 2020 was a year of contactless transactions. But what implications do contactless payments present when it comes to security?

Some say Equifax, Experian and TransUnion are too slow to investigate grievances, prompting more complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But the big three say other forces are at work.

The Michigan bank is the latest company to have customer data compromised through a software vulnerability. The incident reinforces the importance of attack simulations, constant searches for intrusions and exchanges of intel with peers.

The bill introduced by Rep. Patrick McHenry, the top Republican on the Financial Services Committee, would expand CFPB authority to the credit reporting industry and require that certain adverse information be removed from a consumer’s credit history.

How consumer attitudes toward privacy threaten to overturn long-standing industry assumptions about customer data and personalization.