National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) President and CEO Dan Berger today in a letter urged congressional leaders to support national data security standards for retailers and others who collect and store consumers’ personal and financial information following news of the Equifax data breach.
"Data breaches have become a constant concern of the American people. Major data breaches now occur with an unacceptable level of regularity. A recent Gallup poll found that 69 percent of U.S. adults are frequently or occasionally concerned about having their credit card information stolen by hackers," said Berger. "These staggering survey results speak for themselves and should demonstrate the need for greater national attention to this issue. The massive breach at Equifax, and the report that they had known about it for weeks without notifying consumers, is yet another demonstration of the need for a legislative solution."
Berger continued, "While financial institutions, including credit unions, have been subject to federal standards on data security since the passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), retailers and many other entities that handle sensitive personal financial data are not subject to these same standards. Consequently, they have become the vulnerable targets of choice for cybercriminals."
"Credit unions suffer steep losses in re-establishing member safety after a data breach occurs," he added. "They are often forced to absorb fraud-related losses, many of which stem from a negligent entity’s failure to protect sensitive financial and personal information in their systems. As not-for-profit cooperatives, credit union members are the ones that are ultimately impacted by these costs."