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FDIC OIG releases Special Inquiry Report to address breach response plan

Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security FDIC OIG Data Breach Congress Senate Banking Committee

Privacy, Cyber Risk & Data Security

On April 16, the FDIC’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released its Special Inquiry Report—“The FDIC’s Response, Reporting, and Interactions with Congress Concerning Information Security Incidents and Breaches”—which contains findings from an examination of the FDIC’s practices and policies related to data security, incident response and reporting, and Congressional interactions. The Special Inquiry Report is the culmination of a request made by the former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in 2016, and focuses on the circumstances surrounding eight information security incidents that occurred in 2015 and 2016—seven of which involved personally identifiable information and constituted data breaches. An eighth incident involved the removal of “highly sensitive components of resolution plans submitted by certain large systemically important financial institutions without authorization” by a departing FDIC employee.

According to the report, the OIG asserts that, among other things, the FDIC failed to (i) put in place a “comprehensive incident response program and plan” to handle security incidents and breaches; (ii) clearly document risk assessments and decisions associated with data incidents; (iii) fully consider the range of impacts on bank customers whose information was compromised; (iv) promptly notify consumers when an incident occurred and did not adequately consider notifications as a separate decision from whether it would provide credit monitoring services; (v) for at least one incident, failed to convey the seriousness of the breach; and (vi) provide timely, accurate, and complete responses to Congressional requests to gather information about how the agency was handling the incidents.

As a result of these findings, the OIG presented recommendations and timeframes for the FDIC to “address the systemic issues.” Recommendations include: (i) clearly defining roles and responsibilities within the FDIC Breach Response Plan, and establishing procedures “consistent with legal, regulatory, and/or operational requirements for records management”; (ii) establishing a separation between consumer breach notifications and the offer of credit monitoring services; (iii) adhering to established timeframes for reporting incidents to FinCEN when suspicious activity report information has been compromised; (iv) conducting an annual review of the Breach Response Plan to confirm that that the guidance has been consistently followed during the preceding year; (v) developing guidance and training to ensure that employees and contractors are fully aware of the legal consequences of removing any sensitive information from FDIC premises before they depart; (vi) ensuring that FDIC policies, procedures, and practices result in complete, accurate statements and representations to Congress, and updating and correcting prior statements and representations as necessary; (vii) clarifying “legal hold policies and processes”; and (viii) specifying that the Office of Legislative Affairs is responsible for “providing timely responses to Congressional requests and communicating with Congressional staff regarding those requests.”

The FDIC concurred with the recommendations and has completed corrective actions for two, with plans to address the remaining recommendations between June and December of this year. The FDIC has also agreed to keep the OIG informed of the progress made to address the identified performance issues.