WASHINGTON—The House will be holding a hearing today on the mounting risks from cyber-threats.
The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit is scheduled to hold the hearing, “Protecting Critical Infrastructure: How the Financial Sector Addresses Cyber Threats,” with witnesses from The Clearing House, Financial Services Forum, and Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council.
NAFCU emphasized that it continues to push lawmakers to support H.R. 2205, the “Data Security Act of 2015,” which was hailed as “the ideal vehicle” for dealing with notification issues in a House Financial Services Committee hearing last week.
In advance of the hearing, NAFCU sent a letter to committee Chairman Randy Neugebauer and Ranking Member William Lacy Clay. In the letter, Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler explained that the issues of cyber security and data security are intertwined.
"As Congress looks at cyber security issues, the need for greater data security standards for retailers must also be addressed." wrote Thaler. "Consumers at risk in the wake of a data breach often rely on their credit union to help re-establish financial safety. In the process, credit unions suffer steep losses through the reissuance of cards, the charge-off of fraud, and the staff time it can take to respond to the magnitude of many of the breaches we have seen recently. Unfortunately, not all entities are held to a federal standard in protecting sensitive financial and personal information. While credit unions have been subject to federal standards on data security since the passage of Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) in 1999, the same cannot be said for our nation’s retailers."
CUNA Senior Vice President of Political Affairs Richard Gose said CUNA’s efforts to rally CU grassroots support for the cyber bills has been strong. “We have had thousands of credit unions engage to date, including more than a half-million e-mails.”
Both trade groups will also be following a House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance hearing tomorrow on “The Future of Housing in America: Oversight of the Rural Housing Service.”