BankersOnline Security Spotlight

Many banks now offer special seating areas with Internet access, cable television and coffee.Customers can linger there unobserved by staff for up to thirty minutes without anyone asking if they can help them.During robbery or sales training, be sure to point out that this is an area where a potential robber can view your operations unobserved.Anyone in this area should be known by staff or approached by someone from time to time to let them know they have been noticed, they are not forgotten, or to see if they are potential new customers.Any potential robber once approached will go elsewhere to a less friendly institution

Featured Security Webinar

The Network Security Headache: Is There An Easy Remedy?
December 9 —
bySusan Orr
What is meant by network security? What does it entail? Wikipedia defines it as "the provisions made in an underlying computer network infrastructure, policies adopted by the network administrator to protect the network and the network-accessible resources from unauthorized access, and consistent and continuous monitoring and measurement of its effectiveness (or lack) combined together." While this seems to be a widely accepted definition, we also define it as information security, or at least use the terms synonymous.
Increasing threats, emerging technology, mobile workforce, portable devices, new regulations and guidance all contribute to the challenge of implementing network security/information security: hardening the network, restricting access, logging and monitoring user activity, implementing and enforcing controls and policies. In this non-technical presentation we will cover some of the threats facing institutions today and explore some of the methods for securing your network and protecting your valuable information assets.

Safe Deposit Liabilty and Security Issues
December 14 —
by David McGuinn
Did you inherit the safe deposit area and then start wondering what liability might exist? Questions regarding current safe deposit lawsuits, burglaries, box relocations, self-service boxes, dishonest employee thefts and many other liability and security issues are now causing great concern and costly settlements for the financial industry. At this workshop you will receive current information about these issues and an in-depth explanation about how they impact your institution and your safe deposit box renters.
David McGuinn, a nationally known expert in the safe deposit area, answers hundreds of questions each month. He will provide clear concise answers to the "Most Frequently Asked" questions regarding your institution's responsibility and potential liability. He will also identify and discuss many other current security issues relating to safe deposit.

Handling Critical Incidents: The Robbery Issue
December 16 —
by Barry Thompson and Arvin Clar
In almost every robbery situation the criminal has been inside your bank and has cased the building. This program arms you with vital insights into why the robber(s) selected your bank. You will understand what the signals are that tell a criminal your bank is the one to rob. Knowing why your institution is selected allows you to alter your physical layout, change procedures and develop a program filled with robbery mitigation factors.

Staff must acknowledge that robberies can occur and they are prepared to deal with it. Their powers of observation are very important and must be nurtured to protect the financial institution. During the robbery they must know what actions can increase danger to themselves and others. This presentation will provide a wealth of information on the actions that will bring harm to employees or others during a robbery event.



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Card Fraud: Traditional to Cyber

Welcome to the December Issue of Security Spotlight

Read about a couple bank robbers whose stories will simply astound you. A record month for Alerts and Counterfeits is being reported - there were none! Security Shorts has stories of robberies where quick thinking and attention to detail saved the day. There is an excellent Quiz from the FDIC that everyone should take...and pass!

This is the last Security Spotlight of 2010, and all of us at BOL wish every Spotlight reader a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Alerts & Counterfeits
November was a record month for alerts. Last May there were 28 FDIC alerts and 23 in June.Since then the alerts were up and down, but mostly down. November had none reported! Zero, zip, nada. We double checked our email inbox and the FDIC website and our report is confirmed. Just to double check, because that is what security does, we sent an email to the FDIC to verify that nothing slipped through the proverbial cracks. We haven't had a response yet, but will let you know if anything transpires.

The easiest way to ensure you don't miss a notification is to read your daily Compliance Briefing or check our Alerts and Counterfeits page.

Nothing 'Run-of-the-Mill' About these Robbers
Better than Starbucks...
Vincent John Sullivan (aka John Vincent Sullivan), 64, has been robbing banks across the country for several years - and he does it for the coffee. Following prior convictions for bank robbery, Sullivan's recent heist in Missoula didn't turn out quite the way he hoped. The repeat offender did everything he could to return to his comfort zone in prison, which he described as "caffeinated wonderland," with coffee available all day long. Pleading guilty to the Missoula heist, Sullivan told the judge he "just wanted a cup of coffee." When His Honor ordered a mental health evaluation instead of prison, Sullivan looked bewildered as he shuffled out of court. Not the outcome he planned. Sullivan said very little has gone his way since he was released from his first stint behind bars. Even the coffee at Missoula County Jail isn't up to standards.

An Unbelievable Cover Story!
When police responded to an alarm call at 11pm at the First National Bank in Hermitage, PA, they found the would-be robber who tripped the alarm still inside the bank. The intruder told authorities he was the billionaire Howard Hughes and that he owns the bank, which he had entered through a window. He was later identified as Mark L. Dickson, 48, with no current address. Dickson was charged with criminal trespass and criminal mischief, since nothing was taken in the break-in. His new address is Mercer County Jail where he awaits a December hearing, unable to post a $20,000 bond. Note to prospective thieves: if you're going to claim to be a reclusive billionaire, you might at least choose a live one.

Check our Bank Robbery page for photos and information on all the latest robbery suspects. Nearly sixty unidentified bandits are pictured.Just five of them are without a hat.Many are wearing sunglasses bigger than Jackie O used to wear.From a guy in a hardhat and safety vest to a robber with a gargoyle mask, it's quite a collection!



Awareness is Always a Key Factor

Details ? details ? details - Police in Fredericksburg, VA came upon a stranded motorist. The car had a flat tire, but what police noticed was that one man was in the car and was pretending to be asleep. A pillowcase in the car appeared to have something other than a pillow inside it. Two other men, dressed in black were nearby and said they were looking for a spare tire or looking for a jack.

Not too long before this, the police were called to a bank robbery. In that robbery, two men dressed in black jumped the teller counter and demanded money. One was armed and the other put cash in a sack or pillow case.Basic details from the bank staff helped alert police that they were in a very hazardous situation and these details led to the arrest of the three men. Even basic details help!

Police suspected that the car hit the curb during the getaway and that caused the flat. The robbers found themselves stranded less than two miles from the bank.

Quiz Time -Whether you want to test your skills, hone those of your bank staff or educate customers, the FDIC Consumer News has a seven question quiz on "Can You Spot a Scam?" The questions are real-life, involving strangers paying with a cashier's check, ATM and debit card problems and requests for confidential information. Take the quiz and share it with co-workers, customers and friends. Oh yes, the answers are provided. You'll find this quiz on the FDIC website.

While we are in ateaching-learning mode, the FBI has a notice about email scams and holiday shopping tips that you can add to the quiz. You'll find the FBI materials here.

Awareness of Surroundings - The Atlanta office of the FBI is comparing several recent robberies of armored car employees at ATMs to determine if they are connected. Several similar robberies have occurred in the Atlanta area. A guard is approached by a man who puts a semi-automatic handgun against the guard's head and demands money. While quick, imagine if you had a bank employee replenishing your ATM and had this happen to him. There is safety in numbers; training is important, and so is being aware of one's surroundings.Even if you outsource this task, remind everyone to be safe.

Cyber Theft Leads to Bank Suit -Your commercial customer loses money through unauthorized transfers and then looks to the bank to make him whole. This is becoming more frequent, and many banks are telling the customer "no". They aren't protected under Reg. E. A recent case in Missouri has Choice Escrow and Land Title LLC suing its bank because after a $440,000 transfer was made, the bank said the burden was on the customer.The customer maintains that the logon credentials were not strict or sustantative enough, especially when transferring $440,000.

The bank now has the costs of defending itself and its practices, and no one knows yet what kind of settlement may come from this. The bank will pay in more ways than one. There is legal risk, financial risk, and reputational risk. Has your Security Department coordinated efforts in your bank to help prevent such an incident with one of your customers? Is your bank keenly aware that thieves use your e-doorway more than they use your front door? If you haven't begun to tackle this problem, it is time.

Just Another Bomb Threat -We all know the "bomb" the robber brings in is never real. It may be a sack with books or a box that has some wiring and a battery showing. OK, that statement isn't true. What is true is that, thank goodness, these are rarely real bombs and we know we have to train employees to respect a suspected device and treat it as though it were real. In Escondido, CA a 54 year old man recently pled not guilty to 28 criminal counts where he was accused of having destructive explosive devices and the necessary ingredients to make several bombs. The deputy district attorney said the man's home was a "bomb factory" containing "the largest quantity of these types of homemade explosives at one place in the United States".Did we mention too, that he robbed two banks a few months ago?

CrimeDex Alerts Highlight Serial Robbers
Would you be surprised if you heard about a woman who has allegedly been passing counterfeit business checks since 2006? We certainly were when our first CrimeDex report for November arrived! Apparently, stores in the midwest have found security video showing the same woman has been on a counterfeit check spree for almost five years! The next alert that caught our eye included some photos of an alleged debit card thief in California withdrawing money from an Arizona victim's bank account, along with a request that anyone recognizing the thief contact a Maricopa County detective. Later in the month we got an alert describing how a scam artist had convinced a telephone service provider to forward a victim's phone calls to the crook's cell phone, and originated fraudulent transfers of tens of thousands of dollars by using diverted calls to defeat a bank's call-back verification measures. Finally, we were disheartened if not surprised to see an alert from a northeast Texas bank about homeless individuals who have apparently been recruited to pass counterfeit checks in the region.

Those are just a small sampling of the BOL CrimeDex alerts that caught our attention this month. Each provides some insight into the increased security challenges faced by banks and businesses in the current economic environment. Many CrimeDex alerts provide information you can use to bring real examples into your bank's security training sessions, if you are a BOL CrimeDex subscriber.

Read how thieves can turn an old digital audio player, and even old cassette players into skimming devices that read the magnetic stripe on a debit card. We like recycling, but this goes a little too far. Read about it in the Security Blog.

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