Raskin Withdraws Fed Nomination

Sarah Bloom Raskin, President Biden’s nominee to serve as the next vice chairwoman for supervision at the Federal Reserve, withdrew her nomination on Wednesday after failing to secure support from several key lawmakers, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). According to news reports, Raskin was not expected to receive support from any GOP senators, which meant that in the evenly divided Senate, Manchin’s opposition would have prevented her confirmation.

During her confirmation hearing in the Senate Banking Committee, Raskin faced tough questions about her previous writings and speeches in which she seemed to support using the regulatory apparatus to redirect investment away from industries that, in her view, are contributing to climate change.

There are still four pending Fed nominees waiting to be confirmed by the committee, including sitting governors Jerome Powell, who has been nominated to serve a second term as Fed chairman, and Lael Brainard, who has been nominated to serve as vice chairwoman, as well as Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson, who were nominated to serve as governors.

ABA Now Accepting Applications for Inaugural Emerging Leader Awards

The ABA Emerging Leader Awards identify and recognize the next generation of bank leaders who are committed to the highest standards of achievement and service to the industry and their communities. Developing and guiding future leaders is critical to our industry’s success, as today’s emerging leaders are tomorrow’s decision-makers.

If you or someone you know exhibits banking leadership characteristics including steadfast dedication, inventiveness, and integrity, send the ABA a nomination! The inaugural entry period closes on June 1, 2022. To apply, view rules and nominate an emerging leader, click here for more information.

Mitigating Threats Posed by Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Actors' Exploitation of Default Multifactor Authentication Protocol and "PrintNightmare" Vulnerability

WASHINGTON – The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a joint cybersecurity advisory on Tuesday with technical details, mitigations, and resources regarding previously demonstrated ability of Russian state-sponsored cyber actors to gain network access through exploitation of default multifactor authentication (MFA) protocols and a known vulnerability in Windows Print Spooler, “PrintNightmare.”

As early as May 2021, the Russian state-sponsored cyber actors took advantage of a misconfigured account set to default MFA protocols at a non-governmental organization, allowing them to enroll a new device for MFA and access the victim’s network. The actors then exploited a critical vulnerability “PrintNightmare” (CVE-2021-34527) to run arbitrary code with system privileges, and then were able to access cloud and email accounts for document exfiltration.

This advisory, titled “Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Actors Gain Network Access by Exploiting Default Multifactor Authentication Protocols and ‘PrintNightmare’ Vulnerability,” provides observed tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs); indicators of compromise (IOCs); and mitigation recommendations. The FBI and CISA urge all organizations to take immediate action to protect against this malicious activity and apply recommended mitigations such as:

Enforce MFA for all users, without exception, and ensure it is properly configured to protect against “fail open” and re-enrollment scenarios
Implement time-out and lock-out features
Disable inactive accounts uniformly in active directory, MFA, etc.
Update software, prioritizing known exploited vulnerabilities
Monitor network logs continuously for suspicious activity
Implement security alerting policies

“At CISA, we are great believers in multifactor authentication. It remains one of the most effective measures individuals and organizations can take to reduce their risk to malicious cyber activity. This advisory demonstrates the imperative that organizations configure MFA properly to maximize effectiveness,” said CISA Director Jen Easterly. “Now, more than ever, organizations must put their shields up to protect against cyber intrusions, which means applying the mitigations in this advisory including enforcing MFA for all users without exception, patching known exploited vulnerabilities, and ensuring MFA is implemented securely.”

“The FBI, alongside our federal and international partners, will continue to pursue cyber actors who engage in this type of targeted malicious activity of unauthorized access and exfiltration of data,” said FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran. “We encourage organizations who may have experienced this type of exploitation to report to the FBI and/or CISA and provide us with additional information so we can continue to deter and disrupt nation-state actors. The FBI will not tolerate this type of criminal activity and we will use all of the tools in our toolbelt to combat this threat.”

CISA has updated the Shields Up webpage to include new services and resources, recommendations for corporate leaders and chief executive officers, and actions to protect critical assets. Additionally, CISA has created a new Shields Up Technical Guidance webpage that details other malicious cyber activity affecting Ukraine. The webpage includes technical resources from partners to assist organizations against these threats.

To report a cyber incident, organizations should contact CISA at [email protected] or call CISA’s 24/7 CISA Central Operations Center at (888) 282-0870 and/or to the FBI via your local FBI field office or the FBI’s 24/7 CyWatch at (855) 292-3937 or [email protected].

Treasury Announces Additional Sanctions against Russia

The Treasury Department last Friday issued a new round of sanctions against individuals who have supported Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, including the management board of VTB Bank, which was also previously sanctioned. The sanctions followed an executive order signed by President Biden that established several additional steps to limit imports, exports and new investment with Russia in light of the ongoing conflict.

Additionally, the Office of Foreign Assets Control issued new guidance aimed at preventing sanctions evasion, including through the use of cryptocurrencies. “This guidance continues to make clear that Treasury’s expansive sanctions actions against Russia require all U.S. persons to comply with OFAC regulations, regardless of whether a transaction is denominated in traditional fiat currency or virtual currency,” Treasury said.

OFAC also issued Ukraine-related General License 23, which authorizes “certain transactions that are ordinarily incident and necessary to nongovernmental organizations’ activities in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic or Luhansk People’s Republic regions of Ukraine, including activities related to humanitarian projects to meet basic human needs, democracy building, education, non-commercial developments projects, and environmental and natural resource protection.”

In related news, the Treasury Department also announce sanctions against two individuals and three entities for supporting North Korea’s ongoing development of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. This action targets a group of foreign individuals and companies that aid a North Korean defense industry-related procurement agent in Russia.

ABA to Host Free Webinar in Recognition of National Agriculture Month

As part of National Agriculture Month in March, ABA will host a free webinar today, at 12:00 p.m. CDT on the state of agriculture banking in 2022. The webinar will include updates from ABA experts, the status of agricultural leadership in Congress and at the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as an overview of ABA ag banking resources like the 2021 Ag Lending Survey. Click here to register.

Last Call to Register for the 2022 SDBA Spring IRA Update - Virtual via Zoom

The IRA Update builds on the attendees’ knowledge of IRA basics to address some of the more complex IRA issues their financial organizations may handle. This course includes how the transitions rules work, RMDs and death distributions, we will also discuss amending documents. This is a specialty session; some previous IRA knowledge is assumed. The instructor uses real-world exercises to help participants apply information to job-related situations. Registration is $245 for members, $345 for non-members. The Zoom link and course materials will be emailed to participants on Friday, March 18. Click here for full details.

This is How We Roll: SDBA is Hitting the Open Road!

Ever wonder, "what is the SDBA up to these days?" The answer to that question is coming to a town near you! The SDBA team will be hitting the open road, making stops in Pierre, Sioux Falls, Aberdeen and Rapid City, to discuss with our members, partners and legislators, about what the SDBA has going on, our plans for going forward, and how to engage as we move the needle forward in South Dakota’s banking industry. These meetings will be FREE to attend, however, we are requesting registration ahead of time so we can order the appropriate number of lunches. Click here to view the schedule and register.

National School for Beginning Ag Bankers

Fundamentals of Ag Banking: National School for Beginning Ag Bankers is an intensive school designed to train in all facets of agricultural lending with emphasis on credit analysis, credit scoring, risk rating, problem loans and group case study. The school, sponsored by the South Dakota Bankers Association, will be held on the campus of Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D., on June 20-23, 2022. Attendees will receive personalized instruction and continual peer interaction fostered through a limited class size, case study and group exercises.

Set in beautiful Spearfish, S.D., right in the center of the United States, students will have ample time to enjoy the scenic Black Hills of South Dakota. Whether you enjoy hiking in Spearfish Canyon, rock climbing in the Black Hills National Forest, viewing monuments such as Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, or just testing your luck at the tables in historic Deadwood, S.D., Spearfish has you covered! Visit www.visitspearfish.com.

Space is limited to 72 students and we're about 2/3 full right now, so we recommend registering ASAP. You can do that by clicking here.

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