ARLINGTON,Va. — NASCUS kicked off its inaugural cyber security symposium last Thursday, and judging from attendance, there will be a repeat performance next year. More than 90 people registered for the two-day conference, NASCUS president and CEO Lucy Ito said.
Cyber security has emerged as a major sore spot for the retail industry, as a number of firms have had their systems compromised, exposing sensitive customer information. Earlier this month, for instance, Home Depot was forced to notify its customers hackers had rifled its files and gained access to 53 million email addresses.
Credit unions have proven a tougher nut to crack so far, but Ian Harper, a cyber security consultant who served previously as chief information officer for Pentagon FCU, said the chances of financial institutions suffering a significant cyber breach over the next two years is better than one in six. "We have to chance the cost cycle for attackers. It's too easy and too profitable for them to get in," Harper said. "The controls and processes we have now are too slow."
And once a breach does occur, Harper said the victimized institutions end up paying about $200 dollars for each customer record improperly accessed, when the costs of lost customers, diminished business, legal fees and regulatory expenses are tallied.
Not surprisingly, conference speakers provided a number of tips for credit unions seeking to beef up their cyber security. Harper noted that every FBI field office has a cyber security task force. He said every financial institution should be plugged in to one of these teams.
Julia Phillipp, the Treasury Department's director for cyber intelligence, urged CUs to share data about potential cyber security threats. "We all make each other more secure by sharing information," Phillipp said.
The forum, billed as the first of its kind specifically for credit unions, was co-hosted by CUNA.
