Newsroom

February 13, 2013

President signs executive order on cyber security

President Obama signed an executive order on cyber security yesterday just ahead of his State of the Union address, and more details on the order will be announced at a briefing today at the Department of Commerce.

Broadly speaking, the executive order calls for the development and implementation of a framework on cybersecurity practices with industry partners. In his State of the Union address, the president called the executive order a down payment and urged Congress to act.

Today's briefing on the administration's cyber security policy will be led by Deputy Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank and include remarks from other administration officials. The presentation is expected to focus on the administration's efforts to share information and work collaboratively with federal agencies and the private sector to reduce cyber security risks. NAFCU Senior Regulatory Affairs Counsel Tessema Tefferi will attend the briefing.

NAFCU will continue to work with lawmakers on the Hill for a 21st century approach to data security that would require, among other things, national standards for data security, liability if such standards are not met and immediate notification to financial institutions and their account holders when breaches occur.

Meanwhile, the association is urging all credit unions to prepare themselves for dealing with cyber threats. Those attending NAFCU's Technology and Security Conference Feb. 26-28 in Austin, Texas, will learn the latest about how to detect, prevent and respond to such threats. Learn more or register online.