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As details surrounding the Equifax data breach continue to be revealed, NAFCU is engaged with lawmakers as two congressional committees concerned with its consequences have announced dates to hear testimony from Equifax Chairman and CEO Richard Smith.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has invited Smith to appear before the committee on Tuesday, Oct. 3. The Senate Banking Committee will hold its hearing with Smith as a witness at 10 a.m. Eastern Oct. 4.

"NAFCU lobbyists have been on the Hill discussing the breach's impact on credit unions and their members with lawmakers," said NAFCU Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt. "The goal of these meetings has been to advocate for a fair playing field as it relates to data security. Currently, financial institutions bear the brunt of regulations to protect sensitive personal financial data, while retailers and other entities that also store these data are not subject to the same standards, putting consumers at risk."

Hunt also added that the association is working to ensure any new regulatory or legislative requirements that stem from the Equifax breach do not create new burdens on credit unions.

Equifax alerted the public on Sept. 7 that hackers had breached its systems, putting 143 Americans' personal information and financial data at risk. Equifax became aware of this hack on July 29, but investigators later determined the data was taken in mid-May.

Just this week, three anonymous sources revealed to Bloomberg that Equifax knew of a data breach almost five months earlier than it publicly disclosed. While the company stated that the March hack was unrelated, one of the sources said the incidents involved the same intruders.

NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger reiterated a call to House and Senate leaders for a national data security standard after the initial announcement of the compromised data. NAFCU has also sent letters to federal regulators asking them to release findings from any Equifax investigations so credit unions can best help their members deal with the breach's impact.