It strikes me as interesting that both Halloween and Cybersecurity Awareness Month fall in October. After all, the rapid rise in fraud during the pandemic would spook anyone and definitely keeps community bankers up at night, which is why meaningful monitoring and action continue to be necessary.

While community banks have done much to safeguard their institutions, ongoing vigilance is needed. According to the Ransomware Task Force, ransomware gangs stole three times more in 2020 than they did in 2019, and projections indicate that worldwide cybercrime costs will hit $6 trillion for this year.

These statistics are hair-raising, but ICBA and our industry have been working diligently to prevent sweeping impacts. In fact, community bankers like you have instituted processes that help to thwart attacks, including taking actions to halt these scary scenarios. Here are a few examples:

Educating customers. Customers are the first line of defense in cyberattacks. The work you have done and continue to do to educate your customers allows them to better take control of their actions, such as not clicking on links or sharing personally identifiable information in emails or texts. If they understand the lengths fraudsters will go to access their accounts, they are better prepared to protect the point of entry.

Sharing information. When a cyberattack occurs, community banks share information with peers to help prevent losses. In addition, this knowledge transfer extends internally. All levels of the organization need to be up to speed on cyber risk, how it’s being mitigated and the resources available to them.

Resourcing teams appropriately. Cybersecurity is an area that has to be constantly managed to keep up with the threats. Having the right team – whether through internal resources, external solution providers or a combination – is so important. It’s about finding the best mix for your bank and making sure you’re supporting the team to stay on top of emerging risks.