ARLINGTON, Va.—A U.S. Treasury Department official urged credit union executives attending a cybersecurity symposium here to utilize a federal standard to defend against cybersecurity threats.
Approximately 100 industry executives attended the NASCUS and CUNA sponsored event at the Hyatt Arlington.
The National Institutes of Standards and Technology framework doesn't require large amounts of technical knowledge and can provide credit unions with an avenue for starting the cybersecurity conversation, explained Julia Phillipp, deputy director for cyber intelligence in the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Compliance Policy at Treasury.
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For example, she said, the very first step in the framework asks an organization if it is aware of how many different devices are attached to its network at any one time and from where are those devices originate.
"Cyber attackers will search for your weakest point, but how many of us understand what points of contact our networks have," she asked. "Do your employees log on to your network from home? If so, how many and how often? Do third party vendors have access to your network? Have you asked what their security measures are?"
Other elements of the NIST framework could help a credit union identify threats, evaluate measures to protect the network and in the case of a breach, recover more efficiently with the least possible damage, she added.
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