October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, a time for credit unions to take a closer look at how they are protecting systems and data while raising awareness for the growing threat of cyber breaches. The recent Equifax breach has taught us all just how important and serious cyber security awareness is at both the employee and member level.

To kick off Cyber Security Awareness Month, we caught up with Paul Love, chief information security officer for CO-OP Financial Services, to get some tips and advice for credit unions when it comes to cyber security.

Stay Vigilant

“Credit unions have a special relationship with members that other financial institutions don’t enjoy,” said Love.  “They have trust.  Our members are expecting their information to remain safe and secure, and we have an obligation to ensure protection at the levels they expect.”

According to Love, many breaches occur when organizations get careless about their basic security policies and practices.

“There are very few hacks that occur in the way movies sensationalize these events,” he said.  “Most of the time, securing data gets down to fundamentals.  For example, an employee clicks on a phishing e-mail, or a system goes unpatched.”

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