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NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler urged the leaders of a House Financial Services subcommittee to take steps to protect the country's cyber infrastructure and to establish a strong national data security standard for retailers.

Writing to Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Sean Duffy, R-Wis., and Ranking Member Al Green, D-Texas, Thaler expressed NAFCU's support for strengthening the existing mechanisms in place to address cybersecurity issues such as the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council and the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center. He also noted NAFCU's work with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to design a voluntary cybersecurity framework for financial institutions.

The lawmakers will preside over a hearing titled "A Global Perspective on Cyber Threats" today.

Thaler also touted NAFCU-backed H.R. 2205, "The Data Security Act," which would create a national data security standard for retailers and other industries based on the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which regulates financial institutions.

"Traditionally consumers have trusted that entities collecting this type of information will, at the very least, make a minimal effort to protect them from such risks," Thaler wrote. "Unfortunately, in the wake of several headline grabbing retailer breaches in recent months, this does not seem to be the case today."

NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger signed on to a joint editorial in The Hill published Monday, in which he and the heads of other financial trades urged congressional support of "The Data Security Act."