This summer’s huge cyberattack on JPMorgan Chase and a dozen other financial institutions is accelerating efforts by federal and state authorities to push banks and brokerage firms to close some gaping holes in their defenses, the New York Times reported today. Top officials at the Treasury Department are discussing the need to bolster fortifications around a critical area of cybersecurity: outside vendors, which include law firms, accounting and marketing firms and even janitorial companies. The sweeping effort began before the hacking of JPMorgan, which compromised some of the personal account information of 76 million households and 7 million small businesses. Under discussion is a requirement that the banks put in place more stringent procedures and safeguards to make sure that outside firms have, at the least, basic defenses.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/10/21/after-jpmorgan-cyberattack-a-pus…
Listen to former White House Chief Information Officer Theresa Payton provide her perspectives on issues surrounding cybersecurity at ABI's Winter Leadership Conference. Payton is one of the nation's most respected authorities on Internet security and now directs an international net fraud prevention firm. To register, please click here: http://www.abiworld.org/WLC14
In related news, Staples Inc., the world’s largest office-supply chain, is investigating a potential breach of customer credit card data, becoming the latest retailer to confront a threat from hackers in recent months, Bloomberg News reported today. Staples has contacted law enforcement authorities and is working to resolve the matter, according to Mark Cautela, a spokesman for the Framingham, Mass.-based company. The potential data theft adds to a wave of breaches at companies such as Home Depot Inc., Target Corp., Sears Holdings Corp.’s Kmart chain and Neiman Marcus Group Ltd. that have put pressure on retailers to bolster security. The Staples incident, reported earlier by independent journalist Brian Krebs, may involve the theft of card information from Staples locations in the Northeast. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-10-21/staples-says-it-s-probin…