BEDFORD, Mass. — Credit unions cannot afford to be optimistic in hopes that a phishing attack does not occur, according to Amir Orad, vice president of marketing, Consumer Solutions Division at digital security expert RSA. Orad's comments came following a report that phishing attacks on credit unions rose in September while those on banks decreased.

Nearly 50% of the brands targeted for phishing attacks in September were credit unions, a 6% spike since last month, according to the new RSA Monthly Online Fraud Intelligence Report. Meanwhile, attacks on nationwide and regional banks showed a slight decrease to 17% and 35% respectively.

Some security experts contend that credit unions are viewed as having weaker security than banks, and thus become a prime target. Orad said it's a combination of large banks having the resources to battle phishing and that there are "tens of thousands of potential [credit union] targets and as far as the bad guys go, even just 10% of that is a big enough target number for them."