The Cyber CEO, Part 3: The Crusade

You may recall from my last post that I became obsessed with seeking out additional opportunities to learn and apply the principles I was taught. Something amazing happened along the way: I figured out that I really like this stuff. Is that weird? In any event, I ended my last post by posing a question: Why bother to learn all this stuff as the CEO of a community bank. Well, the answer is a simple one: It needs to be done!

I think it’s time for the leaders in the banking industry to step forward and pay homage to the I.T. departments within our banks; to recognize them, not as a necessary evil, but as the strategic partners they are in the long-term success of our banks. 

Technology is integrated into everything we do. The security of our customers’ data should be a top priority. My goal as I embarked on these first steps of a much larger journey was to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation with the members of my technology team at the bank. But the truth is, I now see how truly imperative it is for the CEO of a bank to understand the implications of a data breach and the steps that should be taken to truly secure the personal information of our customers with which we have been entrusted. We should know. If we don’t know, we should endeavor to learn. We owe it to our customers to know this stuff and to share the knowledge we obtain with others. For community bankers, especially, we must make an effort to share our insights with each other. It’s us against them, and it’s time the hackers lose the advantage we have previously, albeit unwittingly, given them.  

Cyber security is not just an industry buzz word for me anymore. It means something more. The need to continue learning and applying the principles of data security in the banking sphere are now a part of who I am. I invite all leaders within the community banking industry to join me.