Photo: Aimee Kowalker, Kate Seekell, and Dawn Newton from Kurzman, Dempsey & Kowalker, LLP, listen as Michael C. Theis, CISSP, SSA (ret.), Assistant Director for Research at the CERT Insider Threat Center, discusses the prevention and detection of insider fraud.
CANTON, Mass. (June 28, 2016) – Cybersecurity experts from around New England and beyond presented yesterday at Bank of Canton’s free “Get Cyber Smart!” seminar, held at the bank’s 250-seat corporate auditorium. The event, which was open to the public, provided local businesses, non-profits and municipalities with strategies and resources for combatting cyber crime.
The six-member panel included speakers from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Fusion Center (including the Department of Homeland Security and the Massachusetts State Police Computer Crimes division), as well as from the CERT© Insider Threat Center at Carnegie Mellon University.
“Today’s seminar made clear that no organization is immune to the threat of cyber crime,” said Bank of Canton President and CEO Stephen P. Costello, who expressed his gratitude to Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey and the Massachusetts State Police for helping assemble the panel. “Fortunately, there are organizations out there like the Fusion Center and the CERT Insider Threat Center that offer resources and information to help businesses and others stay protected.”
Malicious email attachments and ransomware were among the top outsider threats discussed. In 2015, “Business Email Compromise” topped the Internet Crime Complaint Center’s list of cyber crimes, with estimated losses of over $246 million. The rapidly growing problem of ransomware, in which a victim’s network is frozen by a malicious encryption program and held for ransom, has affected many local businesses, higher education institutions, and even 12 police departments.
Seminar attendees engaged the speakers with questions about cybersecurity, and shared their personal workplace experiences with cyber crime.
“I’m proud that Bank of Canton could help raise awareness of these issues today,” said Costello, “and grateful for the participation and enthusiasm of our speakers and our audience. As we tell our customers, we must all play an active role in data security. For businesses, it’s imperative.”
About Bank of Canton
Established in 1835, Bank of Canton is a Massachusetts-chartered mutual savings bank that offers its consumer, business and government banking customers access to a full array of deposit, loan, investment and convenience service options. As a mutual savings bank, the Bank has no stockholders; instead, profits are paid back to customers in the form of better interest rates, personal service and a vast array of financial products and services. Lending throughout Massachusetts, the Bank has branches in Canton, Quincy, Randolph and Brookline, and Mortgage Centers in Auburn and Marshfield. The majority of the Bank’s assets have been used to meet the home mortgage and commercial financing needs of the communities it serves. All deposits at Bank of Canton are insured in full with at least $250,000 insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); all deposits above that amount are insured by the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF). For more information: visit: www.ibankcanton.com. Member FDIC. Member DIF. Equal Housing Lender.
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