You would think banks encrypt all their databases and customer information, that's what you expect. They have a reputation of being "responsible". Unfortunately not all banks do Unfortunately some banks think "It'll never happen to us".. Some banks don't even have qualified IT personnel..

And finding out what your banks uses (or not), good luck! I doubt they're going to tell you, even if you ask them politely as most of this information is considered a security risk..

The firewalls used also varies between banks. Most of the bigger banks use the more higher end firewalls like Cisco's PIX and Checkpoint's FW/1. But again that depends on the bank and again you're not very likely to get an answer from a bank if you ask them what firewall they use..