COCC TO AUTOMATICALLY PATCH CREDIT UNION PC WORKSTATIONS

AVON, Conn — JULY 22, 2004 — Declaring war against computer viruses, code errors and software “worms,” COCC today announced an automated software patching service designed to meet credit union needs. Called “PatchPlus,” the new COCC service implements recent NCUA recommendations for monitoring, testing, installing and reporting commercial software patches.

“As credit unions increase their dependence on commercial software to support their operations, tailored software patch management becomes a critical function,” said Brent Biernat, COCC’s managing officer for network services.

A recent NCUA bulletin focused on flaws frequently found in commercially developed software because of the security and performance vulnerabilities they cause in financial institutions. The NCUA bulletin said “some financial institutions have experienced security breaches that could have been prevented through the timely identification and patching of software vulnerabilities.” The same bulletin announced new software patching requirements, which the agency is enforcing through annual examinations.

The NCUA bulletin recommended that each financial institution monitor its software manufacturers’ alerts, decide which software “patches” are critical to the institution, test them and install them promptly. This type of program requires technical expertise to understand each new patch in a very short amount of time.

Lise Zapatka, Chief Operating Officer for $100M Northeast Community Credit Union in Haverhill, Mass., reported, “If a patch needs to be applied, we don’t want to wait, and neither do the auditors. Without an IT department or a full-time in-house IT person to do the job manually, we save money with PatchPlus. It’s one less hat to wear and one less headache.”

In addition, the credit union receives reports that prove to the regulators that the PCs have been patched. “Each month, we receive a summary of the vulnerabilities discovered plus the patch status of our workstations,” said Zapatka. “A second report details the software and hardware installed during the previous three months.”

COCC’s Biernat explained that a critical component of the PatchPlus service is testing each patch to ensure that it works with the credit union’s teller, platform and back room systems. “This is something that Microsoft and other software vendors simply cannot do,” he explained. “They haven’t a clue what systems are running in credit unions. That’s our job!”

Once the patch test succeeds, it is installed automatically on a test workstation at the credit union. Success at this stage triggers deployment to the majority of the PCs at Northeast Community Credit Union. After a second test period, the credit union’s final, critical PCs receive the patch. All patches are applied overnight and without human intervention.

Biernat added that COCC always notifies the credit union before patching, so “They know that we’re going to patch the PCs in a certain area such as loan servicing.”

“We are pleased to assist financial institutions in meeting their regulatory obligations,” said Biernat. “This is a big requirement for credit unions and an excellent opportunity for COCC to apply the power of its technology partnership. As a result, our credit union clients should enjoy the latest computing functionality at an affordable price.”