DSM Forward Ask the Cyber Security Experts

The Greater Des Moines Partnership DSM Forward webinar series offers insight on moving the Greater Des Moines (DSM) region forward in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. As plans are made and businesses reopen, The Partnership has put together resources for employers at DSMpartnership.com/DSMForward.

Meg Anderson, chief information security officer at Principal Financial Group, Ben Blakely, director of information security at Dwolla and Jodi Selby, VP and senior financial intelligence manager at Bankers Trust offer insight into cyber security during the recent “Ask the Cybersecurity Experts” webinar.

Cyber-Related Crimes

Selby says that at Bankers Trust there has been an increase in business email compromise. Criminals take advantage of busy times when attention is elsewhere. She says it’s extremely important for businesses to have a strong relationship with their financial institution and know their contacts within the institution that can assist in fraudulent situations.

As far as retirement accounts, Anderson says that it is possible to withdraw money from a 401K account. Principal focuses on protection through user authentication and more. Principal has also partnered with the Cyber Readiness Institute to help improve security and help employees be cyber-aware.

Blakely works with a diverse set of clients and focuses on conversations with clients to help them understand cyber-related situations. He says phishing and account compromise are increasingly top risks of 2020.

Challenges Within Cyber Security

Those working in cyber security are constantly trying to make decisions and measure risk, but in this instance you are dealing with human beings who are all managing and dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in different ways. Selby says managing that and doing the right thing by everyone can be difficult. Anderson says the challenge is yet to come. Figuring out the next steps and picking up the pieces of the pandemic is where challenges will arise. She touches on what business practices might need to be sustained that customers have grown used to, emphasizing a new normal moving forward. Many changes made for security reasons may stick around because of customer satisfaction. Blakely says there is a new vulnerability among customers that businesses must be proactive in supporting.

See the entire webinar below:

 

 

 

Find free remote work resources and information at cyberreadinessinstitute.org.

Learn about COVID-19 resources from Principal and Bankers Trust.

You can count on The Partnership to continue to share accurate and fact-based updates as well. See more on COVID-19 here.