Firewalls are just the beginning

Firewalls and other defenses aimed at keeping crooks from penetrating the CU are no longer enough, according to one expert, who said the most skilled organizations now recognize penetrations will occur and they must also be prepared to stop hackers once they are past the firewall.

Bill Johnson, VP of Sentry Cyber Security at Fiserv, explained that many large companies today know hackers will penetrate their systems—a situation that challenges the futures of many small credit unions.

“In my opinion, endpoint protection, such as legacy antivirus software, is no longer adequate. We have to get to the point where we are also assessing behavior and behavior patterns, and then quickly react and prevent a fraud attempt based on these analyses,” said Johnson. “The best thing a bank or credit union can do is get into a next-generation solution that is looking at behaviors and blocking suspicious activities.”

Johnson acknowledged that over the years the focus has been on a layered approach to cyber defense to keep fraudsters outside the organization’s systems. While he said those approaches—such antivirus software, endpoint protection, firewall monitoring—are still important, he also said more needs to be done.

 

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