January 5, 2006
In this edition of BOL News:
- Robbery suspect photos can lead to captures -- even in unlikely ways;
- The WMF exploit, Sober worm update, and an inside look at hacking;
- Our Latest eCard pokes fun at patch anxiety;
- We help you spot new counterfeits;
- There's help available in the Banker Store for employee evaluations, audit policy updates, and an express loan program policy template
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Robbery Suspect Looked Familiar
We can't imagine how William Alfred "Al" Ginglen's sons felt when they saw their 64-year old father in a Web-site photo from a bank surveillance camera, brandishing a gun as he allegedly held up one of a series of central Illinois banks. Ginglen's criminal career was a short one, beginning in 2003 and ending abruptly in August 2004 when his sons called the police after recovering from the initial shock of recognizing their father on a law enforcement Web site.
You can see the same type of photos on BOL's Bank Robbery pages, where we just posted over three dozen pictures of suspects in December 2005 bank heists across the country. Al Ginglen's sons say they may have saved lives – including their father's – when they recognized him in the surveillance image. You can do the same, if you end a criminal's career after recognizing one of our Bank Robbery Suspects.
New Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities
Did you know that experts believe a new variety of the Sober worm is resident on thousands of computers and ready to be activated on January 6th? Have you been hearing about the WMF vulnerability that computers running Winows are susceptible to? We've got the scoop on both threats, plus an inside look on hacker methods, in the latest post on the BOL Geek Blog.
Our Latest eCard: Share the Angst!
 So often we send cards to share the joy in our life. Birthdays, weddings, holidays, and other special occasions. But what about those painful times when your computer has crashed just before you hit the save button or when a virus rears its ugly head to announce its presence on your workstation? Well, you're in luck! Our latest eCard allows you to share some of the frustration we are all feeling now as new threats arise in between patches to protect against them. So go ahead now and spread the word. (And if you really must send some good news there are hundreds of warm and fuzzy eCards waiting for you, too!)
Specific ways to identify counterfeit checks are detailed in the links of reported incidents on the Alerts and Counterfeits page, but do your bank personnel, especially the tellers, have access to this information? Are they aware of the security features to look for when a check is presented for payment? By January 3rd, the first report surfaced in the new year of more counterfeit cashier's checks. Take a look at the description of the security features described for The Keybank National Assn.
Jim Hudson, head of the BOL CrimeDex Fraud Sharing Network, reports that check washing is almost a thing of the past. Check fraud artists have discovered that counterfeiting is much easier and more lucrative. Learn more about trends, methods, and perpetrators, and reduce your fraud losses, by subscribing to BOL CrimeDex. Read more about it or watch the demo.
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The Fed is set to publish new changes to Regulation E in the Federal Register soon. Be sure to read our Friday, January 6, Compliance Briefing for our analysis. We'll give you all the scoop on payroll cards and electronic check conversions.
Audit Policy/Procedures
Are your audit policy and procedures up-to-date and effective? The asset-size threshold for internal control assessments by management and external auditors has been raised from $500 million to $1 billion. Our recently updated Audit Policy and Procedures Template addresses the revision, and also expands the reporting requirements section, changes the section on the role of the independent public accountant, and has additional new subtopics on the Sarbanes-Oxley requirements. Update your old policy, or start fresh. Order now!
Employee Evaluation
It's a new year, and it's a great time to provide meaningful feedback to your employees on how they're doing. We can help!
With the updated Human Resources Salary Administration Policy Template, you'll find two types of employee appraisal templates: one for employees who are bank officers, lenders, supervisors, and other exempt personnel, and another designed for non-exempt employees, including tellers, new accounts, and other support staff. Employees will benefit from a more accurate portrayal of their performance. Supervisors will find the questionnaire-like layout easy to use. Your institution will gain the advantage of enhanced consistency, accuracy and fairness in the performance appraisal process. Order now!
In the works . . .
Here's a sneak peek at some of the other products currently in development for the BOL Banker Store:
Modifications are being made to the Reg E policy to reflect the just-announced changes relating to payroll cards and electronic check conversions.. We'll let you know when it's available for purchase.
Plus, if your institution's goal is to provide a quicker response time to commercial loan requests, there's a new Express Business Loan Program Policy Template in development which will outline procedures and guidelines for small
business loans processed through a bank's automated credit scoring and
underwriting program. Watch for it!
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