Attacks waged for cyber-espionage, fraud, DDoS and other nefarious deeds are increasingly being hired out to sophisticated hackers for specific purposes, says Symantec researcher Kevin Haley.

What are the distinct phases of the fraud lifecycle, and how can banking institutions intervene at each stage to prevent losses? Daniel Ingevaldson of Easy Solutions offers fraud-fighting tips.

Mitigating card risks associated with retail malware attacks and POS vulnerabilities is a focus of updates to the PCI Data Security Standard, say Bob Russo and Troy Leach of the PCI Security Standards Council.

More than 1,000 banks will test their incident response strategies by participating in a simulated cyber-attack exercise. SWACHA's Dennis Simmons says the drill, which is open to more participants, will help bolster defenses.

Phishing attempts against bank employees are on the rise. How can institutions improve their defenses? Daniel Ingevaldson of Easy Solutions offers insights on how to combat advanced phishing techniques.

In the wake of a year of attacks waged against banking institutions by Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters, the FS-ISAC's Bill Nelson and the ABA's Doug Johnson say the need to regularly update DDoS preparedness is a critical lesson learned.

John Streufert, the DHS director overseeing the rollout of a federal continuous diagnostic initiative to mitigate IT systems vulnerabilities, expects that many state and local governments will participate in the program.

The massive initiative to deploy continuous monitoring at U.S. federal government agencies will be done in phases, with the initial rollout occurring over three years, the Department of Homeland Security's John Streufert says.

Many banking institutions have done a poor job of addressing call-center fraud, says IDC analyst Jerry Silva, who offers tips on addressing the challenge of balancing customer service with security.

Because big data brings significant benefits - and risks - CEOs and boards of directors must take charge of developing privacy protection policies, ISACA International Vice President Jeff Spivey says.