ORLANDO, Fla. – As credit unions increase their fields of membership and provide members more remote points of access, the exposure to hackers also goes up. A CSI/FBI 2001 Computer Crime and Security Survey found that 85% of respondents detected a computer security breach, 64% acknowledged financial loss and of the 35% that could quantify the loss estimated it at $378 million. According to e-business Technology, Inc. President Bruce Hartley, since most hackers take the path of least resistance, credit unions need to view security as a process, not a project. "In the past risk management was just a paper exercise, today it has to be based on actual testing and analysis of system vulnerabilities and policy procedures must be updated accordingly," said Hartley. Successful protection of a credit union starts with a commitment from the CEO and board to an information security program and having a layered security model. "You have to think of security from an enabling standpoint instead of an inhibiting one," said Hartley. "You can never have a 100% hack-proof system, but you can make it a lot harder to crack and it is better to prevent something bad happening than fixing it after." -mbourjolly @cutimes.com