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Payroll Processor Reveals Data Breach

Ceridian Says 27,000 Customers at Risk After Recent Hack
A Minneapolis-based payroll processor informed 27,000 of its customers last week that their personal data may be at risk after a hacker attacked the company's payroll system last December.

Are You Ready for the Risk of Mobile Malware?

Security Experts: Mobile Phones, Services are the Next Big Targets
The recent news that Nexus One smartphone owners were unable to send or receive data is just a precursor to what security experts say is the next big threat to mobile phones and services - mobile malware.

According to Dr. Markus Jakobsson, a noted security expert in the field of phishing and crimeware, mobile phones -- especially smart phones -- pose the next big headache for security professionals. And financial institutions should be particularly concerned about risks to mobile banking.

Texas Man Guilty of $1 Million Check Kiting Scheme

A Texas man this week pled guilty to defrauding three Texas banks of more than one million dollars.

Jeff Woodard, 48, of Harlingen, Texas, pled guilty to one count of bank fraud, admitting he operated a check kiting scheme involving four bank accounts held in the names of several of his former businesses.

Community Development Bank, FSB, Ogema, MN, Assumes All of the Deposits of 1st American State Bank of Minnesota, Hancock, MN

Regulators Issue Statement on Lending to Creditworthy Small Businesses

The federal financial regulatory agencies and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (the regulators) issued a statement today on prudent lending to creditworthy small business borrowers. The regulators recognize that small businesses play an important role in the economy and know that some are experiencing difficulty in obtaining or renewing credit.

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner Written Testimony before the Senate Committee on Finance

Chairman Baucus, Ranking Member Grassley and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the President's Fiscal Year 2011 Budget.

Comptroller Dugan Says Minimum Underwriting Standards Could Play Major Role in Reforming Securitization Markets

Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan said today that a robust securitization market is vital to funding the needs of consumers and businesses, and urged policy makers to focus reform efforts on improving underwriting standards rather than "skin-in-the game" risk retention proposals.

Emerging Threats in Financial Data Breaches

Ten years ago, the Department of Justice was prosecuting mischief-makers for defacing web pages. Today, federal prosecutors are targeting international crime rings behind such high-profile hacks as Heartland Payment Systems, which exposed an estimated 130 million consumer accounts.

"We've gone from card farms to card resellers to international hackers," says Kimberly Peretti, senior counsel in the department's computer crime section.

Peretti, who plays a prominent role in prosecutions against notorious international hackers such as Albert Gonzalez, offers an insider's view of financial data breaches. In this session, she will cover:

Background on carding: discussion on the current "carding scene," carding forums and carding activity (online, in-store, gift cards, PIN cashing).
Evolution of prosecutions: From carding forums in 2004 to major resellers in 2006, and now the new, international hacking rings - including the Gonzalez case.
What we know: Lessons learned from the breaches and the criminals, as well as emerging methods - and victims.
How we can respond: Emerging technologies and steps organizations can take today to minimize their exposure to financial data breaches.

Digital Forensics - Careers Tips from Rob Lee of SANS Institute

Increasingly, digital forensics is an important element of an information security program for organizations of all types and sizes.

But where can security leaders find qualified forensics professionals? How can these professionals obtain the skills and expertise they need to be successful?

Rob Lee of Mandiant and SANS Institute discusses forensics careers, focusing on:

Hot trends of 2010;

Questions hiring managers must ask;

Growth opportunities for qualified pros.

Lee, a director with Mandiant and curriculum lead for digital forensic training at SANS Institute, has more than 13 years experience in computer forensics, vulnerability and exploit discovery, intrusion detection/prevention, and incident response. Rob graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy and served in the U.S. Air Force as a founding member of the 609th Information Warfare Squadron, the first U.S. military operational unit focused on Information Operations. Later, he was a member of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations where he conducted computer crime investigations, incident response, and computer forensics. Prior to joining MANDIANT, he directly worked with a variety of government agencies in the law enforcement, Dept. of Defense, and intelligence communities where he was the technical lead for a vulnerability discovery and exploit development team, lead for a cyber forensics branch, and led a computer forensic and security software development team. Rob also coauthored the bestselling book, Know Your Enemy, 2nd Edition. Rob earned his MBA from Georgetown University. Finally, Rob was awarded the "Digital Forensic Examiner of the Year" from the Forensic 4Cast 2009 Awards.

Gartner's Avivah Litan on Fraud Trends

What are the top fraud trends facing financial institutions in 2010?

Gartner's Avivah Litan shares her insights in an exclusive interview with Information Security Media Group's Linda McGlasson, discussing:

Increased number of attacks on strong authentication;

How to handle ACH fraud;

The biggest security challenges for banking institutions.

Litan has more than 30 years of experience in the IT industry and is a Gartner Research vice president and distinguished analyst. Her areas of expertise include financial fraud, authentication, access management, identity proofing, identity theft, fraud detection and prevention applications, as well as other areas of information security and risk. She also covers the security related to payment systems and PCI compliance.

Improving Cyber Awareness - Strategies from Dena Haritos Tsamitis of Carnegie Mellon

Dena Haritos Tsamitis has an ambitious goal for the year: to improve cyber awareness among 8 million people globally.

The Director of Education, Training and Outreach at Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab, Dena discusses:

The cyber awareness challenge among people of all ages;

Effective techniques for improving awareness;

How organizations can improve and maximize their own efforts.

Dena oversees education, training and outreach for Carnegie Mellon CyLab, the university's cybersecurity research center. She leads the MySecureCyberspace initiative to raise "cyber awareness" in Internet users of all ages through a portal, game and curriculum. She guides the education initiatives of the NSF Situational Awareness for Everyone center, which explores ways to improve computer defenses by incorporating models of human, computer and attack interactions into the defenses themselves. Also through CyLab, she serves as Principle Investigator on two NSF-funded programs: the Scholarship for Service (SFS) program and the Information Assurance Capacity Building Program (IACBP). The SFS program provides full scholarships to highly qualified students pursuing studies in information assurance. The IACBP is an intensive summer program to help build information assurance education and research capacity at minority-serving colleges and universities.