UPDATE: Hilltop Bank Slowly Reopening After Cyberattack

UPDATE:

Slowly but surely, Hilltop Bank is reopening and working to return to normal operations after this week's cyberattack. As of yesterday, they have been able to reopen five branches: Main Office, Downtown Office, MotorBank, Glenrock Office, and Cheyenne Downtown Office, and provide limited services to customers. Those branches will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The services provided include:

• Cashing Hilltop-originated checks
•  Limited cash back on non-Hilltop-originated check deposits
•  Withdrawals and deposits
• If you have a specific or unique financial need, you can visit one of the open branches.

Debit cards are working, and select Casper ATMs are working. These ATMs include: Casper College, Hilltop Albertsons, Smith's Food and Drug, Liquor Shed, Casper/Natrona County International Airport, and the Glenrock Office.

For more information, Hilltop has opened a call center at (307) 265-2740 to answer questions, available from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. as well.

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If you're a company that relies on the internet to do business, you're always under attack. No matter how good your cybersecurity system is, someone will always try to screw with you. Not only is the company in jeopardy of being attacked, but so is anyone who is a customer of that company.

According to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, thousands of cyberattacks are reported daily. Other reports estimate that millions of cyberattacks happen globally each day. In today's cyberworld, no one is 100% safe, which is why protocols are in place in case something happens to a system.

We've seen that in the last couple of days in Casper, when Hilltop Bank announced it had a cybersecurity issue that's not only affecting the bank, but also those who trust it to look after their finances. When attacks like this happen, and they happen quite often all across the country, companies have to do everything in their power to eliminate the threat. That includes shutting down banking systems, which is what Hilltop needed to do to fight the attack.

Because of the attack, all of the bank's branches, as of the end of business on Wednesday, remain closed while its IT department works to resolve the issue.

According to Hilltop Bank's Facebook post:

•  Hilltop Bank debit cards will still work with a $1,000 daily limit.
• That means if you're a customer and have payments set to be paid automatically from your account, they won't be made until the banking systems are back online. If your payments are set up through your lender, they will still be made.
• If, during the time period that the system is shut down, you incur a late charge or penalty for the late payment, Hilltop will reimburse you.

It's understandable to be frustrated and criticize, as many people have been doing, but if you've ever had your identity stolen or your bank account drained by a hacker, you know how frustrating it is to deal with the headaches.

As Hilltop Bank battles these attacks, the phones and email will remain unavailable, but they have set up an information website to keep customers updated. To access the information, go to www.hilltopbankupdates.com