Computer Security Systems

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 20211 (CAA) requires the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) to submit annually for seven years a report focused on cybersecurity to Congress. The CAA calls for a description of measures the Board has undertaken to strengthen cybersecurity within the financial services sector and with respect to the Board’s functions as a regulator, including the supervision and regulation of financial institutions and third-party service providers.

The OCC charters, regulates, and supervises national banks and federal savings associations and licenses, regulates, and supervises federal branches and agencies of foreign banking organizations (collectively the “federal banking system”). As of September 30, 2022, the federal banking system comprised 1,035 banks operating in the United States. In total, the banks within the federal banking system, excluding federal branches and agencies of foreign banks, hold $15.2 trillion of all assets of US commercial banks (64 percent of the total assets held by all US commercial banks).

When cybersecurity expert Jake Braun challenged hackers at DEFCON, the largest hacking conference in the world, to breach the security of an American voting machine, a hacker in Europe conquered the task in less than two minutes. From hacking into voting machines to more mundane, but no less serious problems, America's democracy faces unprecedented tests from within and without.

The word “hacking” has preconceived connotations, and most people don't quite grasp the whole concept that goes into the process of hacking. Hackers have a notorious reputation. But there’s a side of hacking that most people aren’t aware of: ethical hacking. You don't hear about the ethical hacking in the news, but there are people out there with the same job description fighting the malicious hackers daily, and they get the bad rep.