Community Bank ISAC
Advancing Community Bank Resilience Through Shared Intelligence
VISION
Reducing Community Banking Security Risk to People and Critical Infrastructure
MISSION
“Protecting the integrity of community banking by fostering a culture of proactive information sharing, ensuring our members remain resilient against evolving cyber threats through shared knowledge and mutual support.”
CB-ISAC STRATEGIC FOCUS
1. Democratization of Threat Intelligence
Community banks often lack the budget for expensive “threat feeds.” The ISAC’s primary strategy is to curate and simplify complex data into actionable alerts.
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Operationalizing Data: Converting raw indicators of compromise (IoCs) into simple “Check for X” or “Patch Y” instructions that a small IT team can execute immediately.
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Contextualization: Filtering out “noise” (like threats targeting global investment banks) and focusing on threats targeting the specific software and vendors community banks use (e.g., Fiserv, Jack Henry, or FIS cores).
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2. Third-Party & Supply Chain Vigilance
Community banks are heavily dependent on fintech partners and core processors. A strategic ISAC acts as a “neighborhood watch” for these shared vendors.
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Concentration Risk Monitoring: Tracking outages or security incidents at major service providers that affect multiple members simultaneously.
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Vendor Benchmarking: Sharing experiences and security assessments of new fintech tools to ensure members aren’t the “first to fail” with a new product.
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3. Adversarial AI & Fraud Defense
As discussed earlier, attackers are using AI to bypass legacy fraud filters. The ISAC must focus on the “New Front” of banking security.
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Deepfake Response Protocols: Developing shared playbooks for when a branch receives an AI-generated voice call for a fraudulent wire transfer.
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Model Integrity: Sharing techniques to detect “evasion attacks” where fraudsters are testing loan application limits.
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4. Regulatory & Compliance Alignment
Community banks face immense pressure from the FDIC, OCC, and Federal Reserve. The ISAC should serve as a strategic bridge to help members meet these expectations efficiently.
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Shared Templates: Providing standardized risk assessment frameworks for FFIEC compliance.
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Exam Preparation: Sharing “lessons learned” from recent regulatory exams regarding cybersecurity posture and incident response.
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CB-ISAC LEADERSHIP
The CB-ISAC Vision & Mission are Guided and Operationalized by:
The CB-ISAC Leadership Advisory Council
CB-ISAC Executive Management
International Association of Certified ISAOs (IACI) Executive Management
Supported by:
CB-ISAC Members
The CB-ISAC is a Division of the International Association of Certified ISAOs (IACI)
Advancing Global Critical Infrastructure Security Resilience
Accelerating ‘Actionable’ Intelligence Information Sharing, Analysis & Response (Physical, Geospatial, Cyber, Cyber-Physical)
Supported by Best Practice & Education
Public-Private Collaboration
The International Association of Certified ISAOs (IACI)
IACI | CB-ISAC Headquarters
IACI-CERT, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida
IACI and The CB-ISAC – Formally Authorized and Recognized:
US DHS Cybersecurity Information Sharing Collaboration Agreement (2016)
2015 Presidential Executive Order 13691
Critical Infrastructure Information Sharing ISAC Communities
Members – Open Participation in ISAC Communities
Breaking Down Long Standing Public-Private Barriers & Silos Across Critical Infrastructure
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Join The Community Bank-ISAC
A Community Bank ISAC (Information Sharing and Analysis Center) is a specialized “digital neighborhood watch” designed specifically for regional and local financial institutions that often operate with leaner cybersecurity resources than global giants. Acting as a central nexus, this organization facilitates the secure, anonymous sharing of threat intelligence—ranging from phishing campaigns targeting small business lenders to vulnerabilities in specific core banking software used by smaller entities. By pooling data and expertise, the ISAC transforms individual vulnerabilities into collective defense, providing community bankers with real-time, actionable alerts and mitigation strategies that are tailored to their unique regulatory environments and risk profiles, effectively leveling the playing field against sophisticated state-sponsored actors and ransomware gangs.