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October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month and the NCUA is reminding credit union stakeholders to remain vigilant as financial losses due to cybercrime reached $2.7 billion in 2018. Cybersecurity is a supervisory priority for the agency; NAFCU's most recent Economic & CU Monitor report revealed that credit unions are devoting more resources and are more concerned about cyber risks in recent years.

The NCUA's top priorities for cybersecurity are:

• advancing consistency, transparency and accountability within the cybersecurity examination program;
• encouraging due diligence for supply chain and third-party service provider management at credit unions;
• assisting institutions with resources to improve operational hygiene and resilience; and
• ensuring NCUA’s systems and collected controlled unclassified information is secure.

“In this day and age, cybersecurity is everyone’s business,” said NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood. “Hackers and thieves do not rest, and the NCUA is committed to leadership in detection and response to cyber threats. We expect credit unions to take appropriate measures to protect themselves and their members, and we provide numerous information resources to help them do that job.”

NCUA has a webpage with cybersecurity resources available to credit unions, as well as information for consumers on MyCreditUnion.gov.

One of the top threats facing credit unions is business email compromise (BEC) schemes, which the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is targeting and the NCUA has flagged the rise of. NAFCU recently shared with FinCEN ways to improve information sharing between government agencies, law enforcement, and financial institutions to address fraud that evolves with technological advancements.

As a leader in calling for national data security standards, NAFCU has myriad resources available to ensure credit unions can effectively identify and address cybersecurity concerns, including online compliance resources and an on-demand webinar. Subscribe to NAFCU Today to stay informed of cybersecurity initiatives.