Americans lost $10.3 billion to online scammers in 2022, up from $6.9 billion in 2021, according to the FBI. Ransomware attacks are on the rise and a huge threat to credit unions and their members. SwitchThink Solutions Chief Information Security Officer, John Stream, will present “Cyber Fraud and the Credit Union,“ at the 2023 National Credit Union Management Association (NCUMA) Summer Conference. During the session, he will educate credit union leaders on attackers’ latest techniques and ways credit unions can shield themselves and their members such as knowing FBI field office agents, protecting their digital brand, and educating employees and members.
Stream says to take control of cybersecurity, credit union boards, leaders, employees, and members must be vigilant, not just the IT department. “Credit unions are largely attacked by ransomware operators and organized crime syndicates who reach employees then smash and grab data and force the credit union to pay ransom or face extortion and public embarrassment,” Stream said. “They also contact members directly and threaten to release their data publicly.”
Stream led SwitchThink parent company, Desert Financial Credit Union, through two core conversions and oversaw the design and build of SwitchThink’s secure private cloud environment. He leverages his 20 years of infrastructure, networking, systems, security, compliance, and leadership background to oversee security and compliance for SwitchThink’s Cloud Solutions clients. Stream holds a computer science degree with a math minor and earned numerous information security certifications.
John Stream, Chief Information Security Officer