Newsroom
Cybersecurity expert Bill Evanina emphasizes the importance of preparedness at Caucus
To help credit unions address current industry challenges and prepare for the rapidly evolving financial industry, the second day of NAFCU's Congressional Caucus featured a session on growing cybersecurity threats in the United States and best methods to ward off attacks.
Bill Evanina, the former Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, updated members on national security and cyber threats facing credit unions – both physically and digitally. In his remarks, Evanina stressed the importance of proactive preparation – planning, benchmarking, and holding ourselves accountable.
Evanina zeroed in on the increase of targeted breaches from China and other foreign threats, identifying that the United States faces “somewhere between $500-600 billion of theft a year” from these countries. In addition, he emphasized that the intent of these breaches is mainly “to identify both the algorithms and business models” in order to duplicate and utilize them to leave the United States behind. Evanina also highlighted that by the time the company identifies the breach, the damage is already done.
To combat these issues, Evanina offered three recommendations for organizations to utilize to better prepare for breaches, including:
- having a strategic and proactive crisis plan in place that covers all possible fronts for a security breach in your organization;
- benchmarking and collaborating with other companies to see how they identify and fight potential breaches; and
- being a true leader to those in your organization by manifesting this change for the future and bringing your crisis plan home.
Evanina also encouraged credit union executives to meet regularly with congressional leaders, regulators, information security officers, and other related agencies to better understand what firms and the government are doing to protect private data in the country.
“Data is the new global commodity,” stated Evanina. “You are part of the solution geopolitically, socially, and legislatively. You are the reason we will be in the race in the future.”
For more information, NAFCU has resources on data privacy and security, including an issue brief on the association’s Data Privacy Principles and an issue brief on digital assets.
NAFCU’s Congressional Caucus ends today. Follow along using #NAFCUCaucus on Twitter and subscribing to NAFCU Today.