A branch is robbed. A cybersecurity attack is lodged. A client is defrauded.
At PNC Bank, the Watch Tower Team is on top of this and more!
While most banks have their own flavor of security operations center, PNC’s Head of Corporate Security Deb Lindway says PNC’s Watch Tower model is designed to provide as holistic a view as possible to ensure both quick and well-coordinated response, incorporating the Fraud Team as a collaborating partner when few often do.
“Physical security, cyber, fraud, incident management and production stability – we have a law enforcement liaison for all these areas. Compared to our peers, if an incident happens, we have high rates of success. We really shifted the paradigm to be more prepared,” said Lindway.
An incident in one area can often have ripple effects into other areas, which is why PNC sees value in co-locating the teams and having them work hand-in-hand whenever a threat arises. In the end, it increases the odds of catching criminals and delivering the best outcomes for clients.
While these teams have existed for a long time, efforts are underway to create more synergy. This means creation of several new roles designed to help facilitate that increased connectivity, said British Fate, the Senior Security Manager responsible for bringing this vision to life.
“From a Watch Tower perspective, the resources are broader than day-to-day developers, intelligence, fraud experts, or crisis experts. We have that representation across the teams,” said Fate. “But when you specifically think about what we’re going to need as an anchorage to those teams to help build that ‘one-team, one-voice,’ this is what sits apart from what we have today.”
Fate knows better than anyone how to build and evolve. Now in her nineteenth year with PNC, she started out as a bank teller. Her growth trajectory led her up the ranks, developing an array of skills as she navigated through 12 different roles of increasing responsibility.
Demonstrating a curiosity and eagerness to learn and grow, Fate went on to establish strategic partnerships with key technology organizations including Enterprise Fraud and Intelligent Automation, to help build out the bank’s fraud risk assessment program and support the development of a governance structure for advancements in artificial intelligence. Fate was also selected by leadership to serve as the fraud integration lead for a major acquisition.
“I started branding myself to do special, high-level initiatives,” she said. “I also took advantage of the many educational opportunities that PNC offers. There are always courses and resources available to step up your game and learn new things.”
In Fate’s current role, she is looking to build out a team with a strategic thinking mindset. Process Improvement is key. These roles can serve as the execution backbone to support the Watch Tower model. The ideal candidates will be able to foresee actions and deliverables but also be able to continuously re-engineer processes to increase efficiency, applying common sense ideas along with out-of-the-box design thinking.
People who enjoy a fast-paced environment are likely to thrive in PNC’s Watch Tower, as staff on Fate’s team will need to be able to pivot quickly as events take place. But it’s also important that they be able to apply lessons learned after the fact and incorporate those learnings into real change. This will be critical when the team executes incident simulations and partner within tabletop exercises. Utilizing the outputs to help enhance playbooks and process guides.
Additionally, our Site Reliability Center (SRC) is tasked to provide 24x7 technology backend support across PNC. The SRC captures data in a visual way will be a key to the success of Fate’s team so PNC’s Watch Tower is able to help discern “the signal behind the noise.” Communication skills, the ability to interpret data and build workflows – all these skillsets will be heavily utilized as the team grows and matures.
“PNC’s Watch Tower is essentially the eyes and ears to the operation engine,” Fate said. “We will be responsible for ensuring there is precision and control around each collaborative response. Any improvements we make will enhance the overall model. It’s about leading from the front – vigilant and resilient.”
