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Jan. 16, 2014 – NAFCU-backed H.R. 3696, the "National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act," was favorably reported out of a House Homeland Security subcommittee on Wednesday and now awaits action by the full committee.

Marked up by the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies, this bill would strengthen the credit union industry's ability to identify and respond to cyber incidents and threats.

NAFCU lobbyists report that there were six amendments agreed to during mark up, including one that would require any federal civilian agency to disclose a breach of personally identifiable information to potential victims and to the agency's designated Information Sharing and Analysis Center within two days of the breach. All amendments and the amended version of the bill were agreed to by voice vote with no objections.

On Monday, NAFCU joined 11 other financial organizations in urging the leaders of the Committee on Homeland Security to support the bill. "H.R. 3696 recognizes the necessary partnership between the private and public sectors that is required to better protect our Nation's cybersecurity infrastructure," the signers wrote.

Data security is a key element of NAFCU's five-point plan for credit union regulatory relief. NAFCU has been leading the response to the recent Target Corporation data security breach in pressing Congress for legislation that would hold retailers to the same standards as financial institutions regarding sensitive data.