Bellevue Poised to Emerge Stronger from Pandemic, Leaders Say

Written By John Stearns, 425business.com
August 5, 2020

Mayor, deputy mayor field questions during State of the City webinar

Bellevue’s citizens, businesses, and government have been financially shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the city was jarred by downtown rioting and looting on May 31, but the city’s foundation is solid and Bellevue is positioned to emerge stronger from 2020’s challenges and remain a beacon for others, two City leaders said Thursday.

Patrick Bannon, middle, of the Bellevue Downtown Association, poses a question during an online State of the City event Thursday with Mayor Lynne Robinson and Deputy Mayor Jared Nieuwenhuis.

“I’ve never been more bullish about Bellevue,” Deputy Mayor Jared Nieuwenhuis said during an hour-long State of the City webinar during which he and Mayor Lynne Robinson fielded questions from Patrick Bannon, president of the Bellevue Downtown Association (BDA).

Nieuwenhuis is confident the city will emerge stronger and better after the pandemic.

“We still are that shining city on a hill because of the makeup of our residents, quite frankly — residents that value and ensure a strong sense of community, a commitment to public safety, excellent schools, world-class parks, and a business climate that, quite frankly, is the envy of cities all over the country. So Bellevue is still that place that you want to be,” he said.

Robinson acknowledged the difficulty facing the community and businesses during the pandemic, “but from what I hear regionally and federally, and locally, our city is better positioned than any other city to get through this and we’ll get through it together,” she said. “We have to continue helping each other.”

If people feel like they’re not receiving the help they need, she encouraged them to contact the City or email her directly. Often, the need simply needs to be connected to resources, Robinson said.

A big need she hears is rental assistance for businesses and individual households. She lauded Bellevue’s approach to put “hundreds of thousands of dollars into rental assistance” to ease rent burdens.

Robinson and Nieuwenhuis highlighted some of the City’s responses to the pandemic, including from the BDA and Bellevue Chamber, such as posting critical information on websites, distributing personal protection equipment, navigating loan programs, deferring local small-business taxes, suspending water shutoffs, permitting expanded outdoor dining, and distributing postcards and flyers with key information in multiple languages.

Robinson cited small businesses helping one another and mentioned Poulsbo-based Liberty Bank as an example. The bank did an “amazing job” of providing 300 PPP loans to businesses amounting to $50 million, she said, citing a bank-wide number. The bank opened an office in Bellevue in February to serve King County and its president and chief lending officer, Alan Fulp, heads the local office and sits on BDA’s board.

About 30 percent of those PPP loans were made in Bellevue, Fulp said in a follow-up interview. Robinson and Fulp noted everyone who applied for a PPP loan through Liberty Bank got one.

Overall, city businesses received 4,000 PPP loans preserving 35,000 jobs, Robinson said.

Addressing a question from Bannon about workforce trends, Nieuwenhuis earlier this year had talked about the importance of a diverse economy in Bellevue. Ironically, he said, the city’s tech-heavy economy has worked to its advantage during the pandemic, with many employees easily working from home.

“That’s been very helpful for our economy for sure,” he said.

The retail, lodging, and restaurant industries haven’t been so fortunate. With unemployment rates of about 48 percent in the hotel and food services industries, 26 percent in retail trade, and 22 percent in arts/entertainment/recreation — all disproportionately affecting the bottom of the income scale, he said, citing the City’s desire to help.

There are “glimmers of hope,” though, for those industries, with hotel occupancy doubling since April, to about 20 percent; traffic volumes into the city rising by more than 50 percent; and pedestrian use of crosswalks up 70 percent to 80 percent, “so there are more people that are out, about, hopefully, shopping, going to restaurants or coffee, or you name it.”

Biking is up, too, hitting all-time highs, he said.

The City will monitor the work-from-home trend to see how it affects the tech landscape, Nieuwenhuis said, calling the situation fluid.

Asked about affordable housing, Robinson said housing supply and affordability is no longer considered optional for Bellevue.

“Now we realize that it’s really essential for economic vitality and for that high livability that we all want — and frankly, right now we do not have a full spectrum of housing affordabilities,” she said, adding that less than 10 percent of Bellevue’s housing is affordable to a family of four earning $100,000 per year.

The City is focused on the issue, she said, examining rezoning properties in growth areas to accommodate affordable housing, for example. It decreased parking requirements in transit-oriented development zones for affordable housing, added incentives for market-rate housing to include affordable housing, and is partnering with companies like Microsoft to retain affordable housing already in Bellevue.

The City’s goal three years ago was to create 2,500 affordable units in 10 years. It already has created 500 affordable units and has 900 more in the pipeline, she said.

Like other cities, the pandemic is hurting Bellevue’s budget, which is expected to face a $12 million to $16 million shortfall, Nieuwenhuis said. Pandemic recovery could take two to three years, he said, hopeful Bellevue can recover quicker. Budget deliberations begin in September, he said, encouraging business and resident input.

Asked if Bellevue would consider a payroll tax to address revenue challenges, as Seattle has, Nieuwenhuis cited a council colleague in not wanting to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.

“I think this is perhaps apropos to the payroll tax,” Nieuwenhuis said. “I don’t think there is any appetite to move anything like that forward in the city of Bellevue. … Businesses want to be here in Bellevue and that’s primarily because they see where we see as a City … the business community as a partner,” he said, noting 45-plus corporate headquarters in the city, 100 international companies and 150,000 jobs.

Robinson hopes to see more people living in Bellevue who work in Bellevue. Only about 10 percent of people living in Bellevue work there, which heavily affects transportation, she said, excited by the East Link light rail extension coming in 2023, which she said continues ahead of schedule and under budget. She also looks forward to the Eastrail bike-pedestrian route getting connected, providing a safe throughway north and south of the city.

Nieuwenhuis referenced the rioting and looting May 31, calling it a painful lesson.

“I think Bellevue lost a little bit of its innocence that day,” he said. “That was something that was always somewhere else, that something like that could not happen to Bellevue, but it did.”

The City has arrested 23 people from that incident so far, with more coming, and the City is pressuring county prosecutors to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, he said. The City also is working to ensure such an incident doesn’t recur and to be more prepared if one appears possible.

Nieuwenhuis praised City police for their response and overall quality, ranking among six percent of U.S. forces nationally accredited. A nationally accredited police department has never ended up under a federal consent decree for a pattern of excessive force. Accreditation requires meeting 400-plus standards on best policing practices, including promoting community building, accountability, diversity training, and de-escalation — so Bellevue police already are doing what many are asking of police, but City police are open to continuous improvement, he said.

Asked about national issues of systemic racism, equity, and inclusion, he noted the city’s growing minority population — 41 percent in 2010, 51 percent in 2018 — and said the City overall has taken diversity seriously for years, listing staff and community efforts focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Asked about inspiring moments in recent weeks, Nieuwenhuis was inspired to see businesses and residents meet to clean up downtown the morning after the riots. While the damage was traumatic, businesses remained positive about Bellevue and wanted to be part of the solution, he said.

Robinson agreed.

“But the most inspiring moment for me was when we showed up at 10 o’clock at the downtown park to start cleanup, the Bellevue High School students had already been there since 6 a.m. and had done most of the work in the downtown park — and I’ve never seen high school students get up that early,” she said. “And I was just so impressed and I wish I could thank them personally.”

City leaders talk economic outlook, police reform and more with Bellevue Downtown Association

The annual State of the City with the BDA was held as a virtual fireside chat, livestreamed Thursday, July 30

Author: Haley Ausbun, Friday, July 31, 2020 9:29am

Published by: Bellevue Reporter

For Bellevue Mayor Lynne Robinson and Deputy Mayor Jared Nieuwenhuis, the most inspiring day this year was not the day a large protest occurred in downtown over the death of George Floyd, defunding the police and social change, which simultaneously saw property destruction and looting at Bellevue Square Collection, but the day after: June 1.

Residents, Bellevue High School students and business owners were out the next morning cleaning up any graffiti and broken glass in downtown. Nieuwenhuis said he was amazed by everyone’s positive attitude, and Robinson said she was inspired by the students there at 6 a.m. who took care of much of the cleanup.

“I have every confidence Bellevue will emerge stronger and better than it is today once we shed this pandemic. We still are that shining city on the hill because of the makeup of our residents,” Nieuwenhuis said. “Residents that value and ensure a strong sense of community.”

The Mayor and Deputy Mayor discussed this and more at the annual Bellevue Downtown Association (BDA) State of the City via livestream, Thursday, July 30. BDA President Patrick Bannon asked questions based on input from BDA members to city leadership that ranged from systemic racism to economic development. You can watch the full discussion via Facebook here.

Robinson said Bellevue may be in a better position than most cities to recover following the pandemic, but it’s still a difficult time for the community. She praised businesses and associations, nonprofits, Overlake Hospital for treating COVID-19 patients, residents and even police for what she said was an example of deescalation at the May 31 Bellevue protests.

Nieuwenhuis said that the looting that day showed that police are essential, and that it should be uncontroversial. He said the city is pressuring the King County Prosecutors that the people who are being identified as stealing or destroying property at Bellevue Square and a few neighboring businesses are being punished at the full extent of the law. He also said police are working to keep this form of property destruction from happening again.

He also praised the police department for being nationally accredited, which is something 6% of departments in the nation have.

“We are always open to a continuous improvement in the city of Bellevue, no matter what department it is,” Nieuwenhuis said. “But I’m so proud of our police department proactively doing so many of these things already. At the end of the day, we’ve got a great police department, we always can do better.”

The city council also took a pledge following the protests to review police department use-of-force policies and gather input from the community on public safety.

When asked about systemic racism, Nieuwenhuis discussed several diversity programs and cultural competency training for city employees. Mayor Robinson added that there was always room to do more.

When pivoting to questions about development, Bannon asked city leadership about the vision for downtown and future developments, and how COVID-19 will impact that work. Much of the discussion was optimistic, as Robinson discussed the important bike and pedestrian connections being made through the downtown core, transportation projects continuing through Bellevue during the shutdown as it was deemed essential construction work by Gov. Jay Inslee, larger tech companies supporting Bellevue’s economy, and small to mid sized businesses supporting each other.

In regards to small business, Robinson said they’ve received 4,000 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, preserving 35,000 jobs in Bellevue. She said what’s most inspiring is small businesses helping each other. New Liberty Bank helped other local companies get 300 PPP loans, valuing at $50 million.

In the pandemic, tech companies have pivoted more successfully during the pandemic than other businesses, which put Bellevue at an advantage. Still, other industries in the city are sitting with high unemployment rates. Hotel and food service industry is seeing a 48% unemployment rate. But Nieuwenhuis said traffic and pedestrian increase in recent weeks in Bellevue is a good sign the workforce trend will improve and consumers are going out and supporting local business.

Robinson said as Bellevue has received a wave of development growth, balancing amenities can be a challenge. But the city is using planning processes to make sure no one neighborhood has better schools, parks and health access than another.

The biggest need Robinson has said she’s hearing is a call for rental assistance for businesses and residents. Bellevue did not put a rental moratorium in place like many other cities during the pandemic. Robinson said instead they’ve put funds into rental assistance so once people get back to earning money, they will not have back pay.

As they discussed housing supply and affordability, Robinson said the city used to believe affordable housing was optional in Bellevue. Now it’s become clear it is essential for economic vitality— less than 10% of housing is affordable to a family of four earning $100,000 a year, and there’s little affordable housing. The council is now looking at incentives to encourage some affordable housing in growth areas, and work to retain the affordable residences they have.

As the city looks forward, recovery is expected to take place in two to three years. Bellevue, with 45 global companies headquartered here, might recover sooner as it maintains a business friendly position.

“I know this is a very challenging time, but from what I hear regionally, federally and locally, our city is better positioned than any other city to get through this, and we’ll get through it together,” Robinson said.

Kitsap businesses, banks navigate fraught federal small-business loan program

May 2, 2020 – Kitsap Sun

Author: Christian Vosler, Kitsap Sun, Published May 2, 2020

Spring is the beginning of peak season in the restaurant business, and the time of year when Brett Hayfield usually starts hiring more employees to work at his two restaurants, the Yacht Broiler Club in Silverdale and The Boat Shed in Manette.

This spring, those hirings turned into layoffs as the coronavirus swept across the country, and Washington state ordered all non-essential businesses to close indefinitely.

“This is our time, so to get shut down, it couldn’t be any worse,” Hayfield said.

Like many small business owners affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Hayfield looked to the federal government for help. But the federal loan program meant to prop up small businesses has proven difficult to navigate both for owners and banks tasked with making the loans.

The Payroll Protection Program (PPP), which is administered through the Small Business Administration, is a low-interest loan that businesses with 500 or fewer employees can use to pay workers for up to eight weeks, plus certain other expenses like rent and utilities. Businesses don’t have to pay back the loan if they use at least 75% of the money to keep or hire employees.

FILE — The Boat Shed Restaurant in Manette was one of several Kitsap County-based businesses that received money from the federal Paycheck Protection Program.

Since it opened on April 2, the program has been the focus of nationwide scrutiny —large, publicly-traded companies like Shake Shack received millions in loans while local businesses struggled to have their applications approved. Applicants have run into problems with vague guidelines and technical glitches with the online loan portal.

Kitsap business owners who have been successfully approved for funding, like Hayfield, still face difficulties. A PPP loan doesn’t solve the problems facing a restaurant that has laid off employees and isn’t bringing in any revenue.

“We basically have to hire them back even though we’re not open,” Hayfield said.

To have a loan forgiven, a business must use it within eight weeks to pay its employees. Funding can’t be used to pay vendors, purchase inventory or many other expenses. The additional $600 a week in unemployment benefits that were approved as part of the $2 trillion federal coronavirus relief package means many laid-off employees are making more at home than they would at work.

“We get no benefit out of that, we’re getting people off unemployment, which is admirable, but the employees quite frankly are going to be disappointed because they’re making more money right now than they will from the operator,” Hayfield said.

On top of that, when restaurants reopen, it will likely be at a reduced capacity. Seasonal employees may be laid off after returning to work because revenue will be at a fraction of normal levels.

“It’s a real Catch-22,” Hayfield said.

Navigating the system

Local banks, meanwhile, have had to deal with a high volume of applications, technology issues and vague rules from the federal government concerning the loans.

Liberty Bank has had more success than most in Kitsap. The Poulsbo lender (formerly Liberty Bay Bank), has boasted a 100% success rate with its applications, meaning every business, nonprofit and church that applied was approved for a loan. In total, Liberty Bank has secured $40 million and counting for more than 210 businesses.

But it wasn’t easy. The first round of PPP funding, $349 billion, ran out in 13 days. Congress approved a second round of funding of $310 billion, which opened for applications April 27 and is expected to be depleted just as quickly.

During the first round of funding, Liberty Bank employees worked for two weeks straight, including on Easter, to put together applications and submit them to the SBA.

“There was a dedication to it, knowing that we were going to be helping small businesses that were struggling in our community,” Liberty Bank CEO Rick Darrows said.

During the second round, the bank used a special program to preload batches of applications. Soon after applications opened Monday morning, the system crashed. Employees kept resending the applications, slipping one or two through at a time as the system would allow.

Darrow said the guidelines from the federal government weren’t set even as the program was being rolled out.  

“You had a situation where, as a banker, you had to make a decision, are you going to participate in this knowing that not all of the rules have been put into place?” Darrow said.

Chris Frazier, who owns Waterfront CPA Group in Silverdale, has seen both sides of the coin. Frazier’s accounting firm normally makes most of its revenue during the first four months of the year, when people seek help filing their tax returns.

The downturn has forced Frazier to keep seasonal employees at home even as the firm has been flooded with questions from small business owners about how they can get help from the federal government. Frazier applied for and received a PPP loan through Liberty after first trying with Chase Bank.

“In 13 days (the PPP) was out of money and (Chase) never said anything,” Frazier said.

Liberty not only answered the phone but was able to process Waterfront CPA’s application the same day. The Poulsbo bank has also been accepting applications from businesses that aren’t current customers.

“Having somebody kind of go out of their way and say you’re not a client here, we’ll take you, for me that was huge,” Frazier said.

Smaller regional banks may have more success in securing funding because of their size, Frazier said. Many international banks were flooded with thousands of applications minutes after the program portal opened. Some banks restricted who could apply — only processing applications for those with an existing account or loan on the books.

“If you were basically waiting in line and nobody was getting back to you, Liberty (Bank) was processing your loan,” Frazier said.

Moving forward

The program has still been helpful for some local businesses.

Haylee Herdman, the owner of Herdman Plumbing in Silverdale, found her business suddenly shut down when Washington state deemed construction a non-essential service in late March. Most of Herdman’s business comes from new plumbing on construction projects.

“We had to furlough pretty much the majority of our employees because we had no work for them,” Herdman said.

Herdman was able to weather April on the income made in March before work shut down, but the company is expecting a rough May. Funding from the PPP should help to pay employees that are back at work as of Wednesday.

“We are putting what we got towards payroll and employer-paid benefits that go to our employees and utilities and rent,” Herdman said.

Steve Sego, who owns The Dock Bar & Eatery in Port Orchard, has been able to rehire some of his employees that were laid off during the shutdown thanks to $56,000 in federal funding.

The restaurant has transitioned to providing takeout and providing delivery in South Kitsap. The Dock’s landlord has also waived rent for April and May.

“We found a path, we’re not prospering, but we’re keeping the doors open and we’re preparing that transition to being a viable restaurant again,” Sego said.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that an additional $600 a month in unemployment benefits for laid-off workers was approved as part of the federal coronavirus relief package. The additional unemployment money is $600 a week. 

How a Seattle business owner got an SBA loan that works for him

Author: Michelle Li (KING5)Published: 5:38 PM PDT April 24, 2020 Updated: 4:02 PM PDT April 25, 2020

BELLEVUE, Wash. — As small business owners struggle to get relief as the second round of federal funding gets doled out by the Small Business Administration and local lenders, other business owners and lenders are sharing what worked for them during the first go-round.

In the first round of Paycheck Protection Program funding, the SBA of Seattle says it along with its lending partners approved 14 years of SBA lending in just 14 days. 74-percent of the loans approved were $150,000 or less, though, across the state, Washington banks doled out more than $4.9 billion. 

If there’s something to be learned from the first round of funding, it’s that business owners have to act fast and shop around.

That’s exactly what Ryan Glant of Pacific Iron and Metal did to secure a loan for his 103-year-old company — a company that survived the Spanish Flu and the Great Depression. Glant is the president and CEO of Glant Pacific Companies in Sodo and employs about 100 people. The PPP funding will allow him to rehire some of those he had previously laid off. 

“We just feel really fortunate it,” said Glant. “It’s a lifeline. Unfortunately, in some cases, people didn’t ‘get it’ or realize you need to be on top of it early and often.”

Glant had been in touch with Liberty Bank’s president Alan Fulp, despite having a bank account with a large national bank. The community bank is an expansion of the Liberty Bay Bank in Poulso and had just expanded earlier this year to Bellevue.

“I have happened to know Alan from the community for a long time,” said Glant. “So just by happenstance, we started connecting. Things change and our environments change, so it behooves us to explore other potential partnerships.”

And that’s the relationship that paid off.

Glant said his team worked on three separate bank applications when the first round of funding was announced. Liberty Bank was the only one to come through.

“Liberty Bank was really straightforward,” said Glant. “Alan’s team was awesome. We did apply to three different banks, and they all had very different processes. But Alan made it really streamlined and therefore our SBA loan confirmation quickly came back.”

Nationwide, the first round of forgivable loans sent $342.3 billion to about 1.6 million businesses nationwide. And though it seems like a staggering amount of help, Fulp said it was only anticipated to bail out a third of small businesses.

“It’s been characterized a little bit as like building an airplane in the sky,” said Fulp. “If we’re the bank that’s pushing the money out the door, we want to make sure that we have it right. And so I think a lot of banks were uncomfortable with the uncertainty of that, and they chose to take a step back and wait for the details to emerge, which is reasonable.”

Fulp said the process itself — at least for the first round — was pretty easy. The borrower must fill out a special application. Then the bank has to submit it to the SBA. The SBA has a special portal set up for submitting the loans, and when that happens successfully, banks receive a number confirming the SBA has successfully received the application. 

“Then you know that you’re confirmed in the system,” said Fulp. “Up until you receive that number, you don’t have a place in line. I would say it’s not a complicated process, but the bank has to be familiar with that SBA portal process, and not every bank is an SBA lender.”

Small business owners across the country have complained their banks sat or fumbled their applications. Perhaps Liberty’s flexibility as a smaller, community bank helped speed along the process.

“I agree with that,” said Fulp.

Fulp said Liberty Bank helped more than 50 area businesses, securing millions of dollars in payroll. 

“We’ve had to take a little bit of a step of faith that the federal government is going to iron out these details and take care of the banks that are pushing the money out the door, in addition to taking care of the small businesses,” said Fulp. “I think as things have evolved, it has been a good process.”

Scammers Pretending to be the FDIC

FDIC Consumer News, March 23, 2020

https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/march2020.pdf

Security Tips – Social Engineering

What is a social engineering attack?

In a social engineering attack, an attacker uses human interaction (social skills) to obtain or compromise information about an organization or its computer systems. An attacker may seem unassuming and respectable, possibly claiming to be a new employee, repair person, or researcher and even offering credentials to support that identity. However, by asking questions, he or she may be able to piece together enough information to infiltrate an organization’s network. If an attacker is not able to gather enough information from one source, he or she may contact another source within the same organization and rely on the information from the first source to add to his or her credibility.

What is a phishing attack?

Phishing is a form of social engineering. Phishing attacks use email or malicious websites to solicit personal information by posing as a trustworthy organization. For example, an attacker may send email seemingly from a reputable credit card company or financial institution that requests account information, often suggesting that there is a problem. When users respond with the requested information, attackers can use it to gain access to the accounts.

Phishing attacks may also appear to come from other types of organizations, such as charities. Attackers often take advantage of current events and certain times of the year, such as:

How do you avoid being a victim?

What do you do if you think you are a victim?

To learn more, please visit https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/tips

Source: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)

Danielle Hampton Accepts Commercial Loan Assistant Position

Poulsbo and Greater Puget Sound, WA – Liberty Bank is pleased to announce the promotion of Danielle Hampton to the role of Commercial Loan Assistant. She brings 22 years of lending experience to her position.

In her new role, she will be processing commercial, residential, and consumer loans. “I look forward to assisting our lenders and our new team leader with various tasks such as construction loan tracking, financial covenant tracking, and helping to grow our loan totals,” Danielle says.

Danielle has been with Liberty Bank since September 2008 when the bank was still raising capital to open its doors. She was previously in the loan operations department. She appreciates the small community bank atmosphere is at Liberty Bank. “I’m looking forward to putting faces to names in my new role,” Danielle says. “I’m familiar with our customers’ loan file, but now I will be able to greet them as they come into the bank and continue to assist them.”

Outside of work Danielle enjoys spending time with her family, gardening, and camping.  “I am a huge fan of our local sports teams. Go Hawks!”

Kristi Sutton Retires From Liberty Bank

We are wishing Kristi Sutton a fulfilling retirement, may her new journey be filled with joy!  Kristi has been with Liberty Bank since 2011 as a Relationship Associate and she brought over 23 years of banking expertise to her role. She supported the banking team and clients with loan processing and administration. Kristi also served in the North Kitsap community through her dedicated volunteer service and held a number of roles with Poulsbo-North Kitsap Rotary including Club Secretary.

Kristi will be missed here at Liberty Bank. We wish her the very best for her retirement.

Lisa Madland Joins Liberty Bank

Poulsbo and Greater Puget Sound, WA – Lisa Madland joined Liberty Bank in February 2019 as VP of Business Services. Lisa will be working on software development and adding to the technology services for Liberty Bank. “I’m excited to be a part of the coming growth for the company,” she says. Lisa has been in the banking profession for a number of decades, and she has spent most of her career at small community banks. Before joining Liberty Bank, Lisa was the VP of Operations at Salal Credit Union.

Liberty Bank’s commitment to building relationships, and as Lisa says, “providing the kind of service that goes above and beyond,” was a real draw for her. “It makes me happy to come in to work every day. I have always loved being a part of a community bank that offers more to their clients than just products.”

Outside of work, Lisa likes to read, travel, and scrapbook.  “Love going on cruises,” Lisa says. “We [my husband and I] are big cruisers.”

Cyber Security

If you are a victim of fraud, please contact us at 360-779-4567.

Social Engineering Attack

Source:  Dept. of Homeland Security

In a social engineering attack, an attacker uses human interaction (social skills) to obtain or compromise information about an organization or its computer systems.  An attacker may seem unassuming and respectable, possibly claiming to be a new employee, repair person, or researcher and even offering credentials to support that identity.  However, by asking questions, he or she may be able to piece together enough information to infiltrate an organization’s network.  If an attacker is not able to gather enough information from one source, he or she may contact another source within the same organization and rely on the information from the first source to add to his or her credibility.  Read More

Cyber Security Awareness Basics

Source: fdic.gov

Consumers increasingly rely on computers and the Internet — the “cyber” world — for everything from shopping and communicating to banking and bill-paying. But while the benefits of faster and more convenient cyber services for bank customers are clear, the risks posed by these services as well as the strategies for preventing or recovering from cyber-related crimes may not be as well-known by the average consumer and small business owner.

Common cyber-related crimes include identity theft, frauds, and scams. Identity theft involves a crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data to open fraudulent credit card accounts, charge existing credit card accounts, withdraw funds from deposit accounts, or obtain new loans. A victim’s losses may include not only out-of-pocket financial losses but also substantial costs to restore credit history and to correct erroneous information in their credit reports.

How to Avoid Identity Theft

The best protection against identity theft is to carefully protect your personal information, for example:

How to Avoid Frauds & Scams

There are numerous scams presented daily to consumers so you must always exercise caution when it comes to your personal and financial information. The following tips may help prevent you from becoming a fraud victim.