Cyber threats warrant multi-industry response

The banking industry faces cyber security threats that jeopardize the entire financial system. The advent of AI and "deep fakes" push the risk of fraud to a whole new level. The challenge of holding cyber criminals at bay, however, is too large to be left entirely with bankers; efforts from other industries, such as telecom and social media, are essential for success in the war on cybercrime..According to the FBI, Americans filed nearly 900,000 cyber incident complaints in 2023, representing about $12.5 billion in losses. And many cybercrimes go unreported, leading experts to speculate that actual numbers are much higher. In any event, the trend is troubling; the most recent figures represent an increase in complaints of about 10 percent and an increase in financial loss of about 22 percent from the previous year. .Paul Benda of the American Bankers Association shared this information with bankers in central Minnesota recently. His presentation included examples of AI-created voice clones and deep fake videos. It was essentially impossible to tell the difference between authentic audio and images, and the fake ones. He explained almost anyone can create the fake stuff, using free internet tools available on websites such as elevenlabs.com. While banks are constantly updating their security, it is very difficult to authenticate financial transactions with 100 percent certainty in today's world..While banks will continue to enhance their security measures, Congress needs to enforce broader participation in risk mitigation efforts by requiring telecoms and internet companies to implement tools and practices that protect consumers. For example, better caller authentication tools need to be implemented by telecoms to prevent criminals from easily spoofing caller ID displays. If more "caller unknown" warnings were displayed, fewer people would take a scammer's phone call. The same principle applies to fraudulent websites or "email-to-text" tools that scammers use to phish for victims. .Scams are more sophisticated than they were when we were all getting notices from royalty in foreign countries about improbable gifts of cash; it is going to take substantial resources from private industry and government sources to harden our financial infrastructure against attack. Benda noted the ABA's check fraud directory is a decent starting place for many banks. Also, ic3.gov, the FBI's website for reporting cyber crime, is a useful resource. In some cases, the FBI can actually retrieve lost funds. .Awareness is important. While pursuing bigger solutions, continue to encourage staff and customers to stay on their guard.