An independent cybersecurity review across many of California’s largest banks reveals a wide range of results. These institutions hold customers’ deposits and financial data, yet many show meaningful gaps in basic email authentication.
Using data from audit.emailmenow.com, we evaluated each bank’s domain across email, website, and network security — including SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MTA-STS/TLS, and security headers.
Cybersecurity Scores of Major California Banks
Overall compliance scores from audit.emailmenow.com. Re-run any domain at the link to verify.
| Rank | Bank | Domain | Overall Score | Performance Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Five Star Bank | fivestarbank.com | 73% | Strong |
| 1 | Bank of Marin | bankofmarin.com | 73% | Strong |
| 3 | Pacific Premier Bank | ppbi.com | 70% | Strong |
| 3 | Cathay Bank | cathaybank.com | 70% | Strong |
| 5 | Preferred Bank | preferredbank.com | 64% | Good |
| 6 | Mechanics Bank | mechanicsbank.com | 61% | Above Average |
| 7 | Tri Counties Bank | tcbk.com | 60% | Above Average |
| 7 | Hanmi Bank | hanmi.com | 60% | Above Average |
| 9 | Westamerica Bank | westamerica.com | 55% | Average |
| 10 | City National Bank | cnb.com | 54% | Average |
| 11 | East West Bank | eastwestbank.com | 53% | Below Average |
| 12 | Banc of California | bancofcal.com | 42% | Weakest |
What the Results Reveal
- Scores range from 73% down to 42% — Five Star Bank and Bank of Marin tie at the top (73%), with Pacific Premier and Cathay close behind at 70%.
- Several large, well-known names trail: City National (54%), East West (53%), and Banc of California (42%) all fall short of an above-average posture.
- Without an enforced DMARC policy, criminals can spoof the bank’s own domain to phish customers or to send fraudulent “wire update” instructions to commercial clients.
Why This Matters for Banks
Banks are bound by the GLBA Safeguards Rule, FFIEC examination guidance, and FDIC/OCC/state oversight. Email authentication (SPF, DKIM, and an enforced DMARC policy) is the single highest-impact control against the business email compromise (BEC) and wire fraud that target bank customers and commercial accounts.
Check any bank’s posture at audit.emailmenow.com/?industry=financial-advisors.
See also — national audit
Recommendations
- Enforce DMARC (
p=reject), strict SPF (-all), and DKIM signing. - Add MTA-STS and website security headers.
- Adopt verified call-back procedures for any change to wiring instructions, and train customer-facing and commercial staff.
Stop fraud before it starts. Run a free Instant Cybersecurity Audit at audit.emailmenow.com/?industry=financial-advisors.
Contact EmailMeNow IT Consulting for help with GLBA-aligned email security hardening.
Source & methodology: Overall compliance scores from the free scan at audit.emailmenow.com — each domain checked for email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), transport security (MTA-STS/TLS), website security headers, and network security. Re-run any domain at the link to verify.