NEWS: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has recently issued two alerts addressing risks from Russian State-Sponsored cyber threats and highlighting recent malicious cyber incidents suffered by public and private entities in Ukraine.
Given current geopolitical events, the NCUA, along with CISA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National Security Agency are now encouraging credit unions of all sizes and their cybersecurity teams nationwide to adopt a heightened state of awareness and to conduct proactive threat hunting.
In addition, COVID-related supply chain disruptions may require management to reevaluate previously held assumptions for business continuity and disaster recovery plans, the NCUA has advised.
Credit union leadership should be aware of critical cyber risks and take urgent steps to reduce the likelihood and impact of a potentially damaging compromise. All credit unions, regardless of size, are potentially vulnerable to cyberattacks.
The NCUA says that it highly encourages all credit unions to review the two CISA issuances and act on the applicable recommendations. “It is crucial that your organization does its part to improve its resilience, reducing the risk of compromise or severe business degradation,” the NCUA said.
The NCUA recently created the Automated Cybersecurity Evaluation Toolbox (ACET) for federally insured credit unions to evaluate their cybersecurity posture. For more information, please visit the NCUA’s cybersecurity resources website.
Should your credit union experience a cyber incident, the NCUA asks that you contact the FBI’s 24/7 Cyber Watch (CyWatch) at 855.292.3937 or by e-mail. When available, please include the following information regarding the incident: date, time, and location of the incident; type of activity; number of people affected; type of equipment used for the activity; the name of the submitting company or organization; and a designated point of contact. To request incident response resources or technical assistance related to these threats, contact CISA via email or 888.282.0870.
The NCUA also encourages credit unions to report identified cybersecurity incidents to their district examiner as soon as practicable.