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A new report, from cybersecurity research firm IntSights examining threats facing financial institutions, found that the amount of credit cards for sale on the dark web has roughly quadrupled over the past two years, with a 135 percent increase from the first half of 2017 through the first half of 2018.

In addition, IntSights found that rather than hacking into corporate systems, cybercriminals are now creating fake mobile banking applications and social media pages under the guise of credible financial institutions to obtain consumers' financial information. More than one-third of mobile banking users have been fooled by fake applications.

IntSights' report included last year's Equifax data breach, which revealed the personal financial information of more than 147 million Americans, as one of the most notable data breaches. A NAFCU Economic and CU Monitor survey after the breach announcement revealed 63 percent of credit unions were "very concerned" about another Equifax-type data breach.

NAFCU has been active with lawmakers since the massive 2013 Target data breach stressing the need for a legislative solution to reform the nation's data security system. The association has also shared with Congress principles credit unions would like to see addressed in any comprehensive cyber and data security legislation, which include requiring entities to be accountable for related costs of data breaches that occur on their end.

Additional key findings from IntSights, as well as the link to download the full report, are available here.

NAFCU remains a leading advocate on this issue and is working to ensure that all entities that hold or collect consumers' personal financial information are held to similar standards as credit unions.