Now that the FFIEC Authentication Guidance update has been issued, there is no more important task for banking institutions than to conduct their risk assessments, says Matthew Speare of M&T Bank Corp.

Doug Johnson of the American Bankers Association says banking institutions should spend the next five months focusing on their risk assessments, as they work to meet the FFIEC's new authentication guidance update.

Keeping data secure is the greatest challenge during any merger or acquisition, and the first critical step is figuring out which confidential information could be at risk of exposure.

Eddie Schwartz didn't shy away from the offer to become RSA's first chief security officer after the security firm experienced a sophisticated advanced-persistent-threat breach. Instead, Schwartz embraced the hack as the reason to take the job. (See RSA to Get Its First Chief Security Officer.)

Recent high-profile data breaches and heightened threats add up to one thing: a bright future for information security professionals who want to start or re-start a career in risk management.

RSA customers who feel victimized by last March's breach of the security vendor's computers have viable options that include continued use of the SecurID authentication tokens, those offered by competitors, or something entirely different: biometrics.

Insider fraud expert Shirley Inscoe says Citi is not the only financial institution that's doing a poor job of keeping up with employee misconduct. Few banking institutions grasp how damaging inside jobs actually are.

Major U.S. card issuers continue to get poor marks when it comes to steps they take to prevent card fraud. In fact, according to research released by Javelin Strategy & Research, prevention measures for the last three consecutive years have continually declined, despite exponential increases in fraud.

Today's top fraud threats recognize no global boundaries, says James Ratley, head of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. And they require a stronger global workforce than ever before.

The Fed's ruling on interchange cuts mandated by the Durbin Amendment will aid fraud prevention and could accelerate a move to chip-based payments, says Randy Vanderhoof, director of the Smart Card Alliance.