Fed's Bowman Addresses Community Bank Cyber Risks at Denver Workshop

Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman delivered pre-recorded opening remarks at the Community Bank Cyber Workshop held in Denver, Colorado, underscoring the central bank's ongoing focus on cybersecurity resilience within the community banking sector.

The workshop format, convened by the Federal Reserve, brought together community bank stakeholders to examine the evolving cyber threat landscape that smaller financial institutions face. Community banks have increasingly drawn regulatory attention as targets for sophisticated cyberattacks, given that they often operate with more limited IT security resources than their larger counterparts.

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Bowman's participation via pre-recorded video reflects a broader Federal Reserve effort to engage directly with community bank leaders and regulators on operational risk topics, including cybersecurity preparedness, incident response, and third-party vendor management — areas that examiners have flagged as persistent vulnerabilities across smaller institutions.

The Denver event is part of a series of outreach efforts by the Fed to ensure community banks have access to supervisory guidance and peer collaboration on cyber defense strategies. Regulators have emphasized that cybersecurity is no longer solely a large-bank concern, as criminal actors increasingly target institutions of all sizes to exploit weaknesses in digital infrastructure.

Continue reading at FRB: Speeches.