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NAFCU: Credit Unions Pay High Price for Data BreachesWASHINGTON --(Business Wire)-- The National Association of Federal Credit Unions' (NAFCU) February Economic & CU Monitor survey found that credit unions, and by extension their 96 million members, are paying a high price for retailers' data breaches. NAFCU estimates that the recent Target (News - Alert) data breach could end up costing the credit union community nearly $30 million. Among those surveyed, the average cost for the Target data breach was $45,000. "The survey findings are staggering. Credit unions are being hit by a double whammy in terms of numbers of possible data breaches and costs while they continue to pick up the tab for retailers who are not subject to the same high level of data security standards," said NAFCU Chief Economist and Director of Research David Carrier. "It is ironic that despite the ample rules in place to ensure data protection standards at financial institutions like credit unions, merchants and retailers are not held accountable for data breaches. Cybercriminals will continue to capitalize on this double standard and wreak havoc with consumers and our economy." NAFCU's Economic & CU Monitor on data security reported:
NAFCU is urging Congress to pass S. 1927, the "Data Security Act of 2014," by Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo. This bill leaves intact the federal standards already imposed on financial institutions and seeks to extend the protection further, by setting national standards for all merchants and retailers to follow in protecting data, providing timely breach notification and paying their share of the clean-up when breaches occur. NAFCU's Economic and CU Monitor is a member-only monthly e-newsletter of the latest macroeconomic and financial trends affecting today's credit unions, including trend data among NAFCU member federal credit unions. The National Association of Federal Credit Unions is the only national organization that focuses exclusively on federal issues affecting credit unions, representing its members before the federal government and the public.
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