Securing Credit Unions: Beyond Compliance, Keeping Members’ Trust

Like any financial institution, credit unions handle a wealth of sensitive data, making them attractive targets for hackers. However, as a credit union leader, you face the additional challenge of protecting your members’ data while maintaining the trust and experience that set your organization apart from larger institutions. As your team works to balance a seamless user experience with enhanced security, threats continue to rise. According to a recent NCUA report, between September 2023 and May 2024, credit unions reported 892 cyber incidents, with 73% of these involving third-party vendors.  

Ticking the compliance box offers some protection but won’t shield credit unions from the increasing threats they face. So, what will?  

The Pressing Security Challenges for Credit Unions

For credit unions, security isn’t just about meeting regulations—it’s about preserving the trust of your members and ensuring the integrity of your institution. Unlike larger financial institutions, which may have more automated systems and high-tech apps, credit unions thrive on the deep, personal relationships they build with their members. This trust is their unique differentiator. That’s why it’s crucial for credit unions to approach security in a way that doesn’t hinder growth and instead strengthens their ability to serve their members and preserve their confidence.  

Regulatory Compliance

As a credit union, you’re required to follow NCUA cybersecurity guidelines, such as setting up an Information Security Program, conducting risk assessments, and safeguarding member data. These regulations are a good starting point, but they may not fully address emerging threats like advanced phishing attacks, supply chain vulnerabilities, or zero-day exploits. Additionally, the NCUA guidance refers to the FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (CAT), which will be sunset on August 31^st of 2025. To effectively protect data and meet shifting regulations, credit unions should consider aligning with other best-in-class frameworks such as NIST CSF 2.0, the CRI Profile, or CIS Critical Security Controls. Meanwhile, real-time threat monitoring, advanced endpoint protection, and incident response plans should be implemented to detect and neutralize risks that standard compliance measures won’t achieve.  

Trust Based Exploits

The community-driven culture of credit unions sets them apart from competition and supports business growth, but it also opens the door to more risk. Strong relationships with members often lead to more relaxed security measures, and attackers take advantage of this trust. Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) is a commonly used tactic where an attacker impersonates an account holder by gathering personal information from public sources (like social media profiles) to convincingly call or email the credit union, requesting access to an account or a password reset. Additionally, attackers commonly spoof phone numbers and email addresses to make it appear like they are contacting the credit union from a legitimate source. This allows them to pass off as a member calling for support or a vendor requesting sensitive information. Cybercriminals also use “pretexting” techniques to pose as credit union employees to gain confidential data from members.  

While ultimately, the best way to defend your credit union is to work with cybersecurity experts to align with best practices and industry frameworks, many simple defenses should be implemented immediately. To quickly add a layer of protection against these criminal tactics, credit unions should implement Multi-factor Authentication (MFA). Additionally, regular Service and Privileged Account Audits are crucial to ensure that no unauthorized personnel have access to sensitive systems or information. Service and privileged accounts are user accounts that have access to an organization’s systems accounts, and often, many of these accounts of former employees still exist and serve as an easy entry point for cybercriminals. An audit of these accounts along with continuous monitoring, can help keep the attackers out. Richey May, recognized as Anetac’s Partner of the Year, brings expertise in helping credit unions conduct these audits to ensure they align with regulatory and security best practices. 

Access to Technical Expertise

While larger institutions may have dedicated in-house teams, smaller credit unions must find ways to address a growing range of cyber threats with fewer experts on hand. Even essential security investments can go underutilized without the right expertise to guide their deployment. 

While organizations like FS-ISAC offer valuable threat intelligence, it takes specialized and experienced personnel to analyze and act on this data. Plus, the costs associated with these services can seem prohibitively high. Yet having threat intelligence, a process to collect, analyze, and interpret potential cyber threats strategically with the enrichment of known external intelligence, can help save money and keep your business resilient in the long run. As with any effective business strategy, cybersecurity spending must be impactful: how do leaders know where to invest their money confidently to reduce the most relevant risk to their organization and members?  

This is where managed security services can make a meaningful difference. Partners like Richey May bring experience handling credit unions’ end-to-end security, from vulnerability assessments to real-time monitoring and incident response. Aside from gaining 24/7 access to hands-on support, you can also ensure you’re utilizing resources and budget efficiently, prioritizing the right threats and gaps, and seeing returns on your investments.  

Achieving Holistic Security in Credit Unions 

Securing a credit union requires more than just meeting regulatory requirements—it demands a comprehensive strategy that protects against evolving threats while maintaining operational efficiency. This means not just implementing standard and static security measures, but continuously assessing and adapting to risks across the entire organization. In the sections below, we’ll dive into how credit unions can strengthen their security, from implementing comprehensive security assessments to preparing effective incident response workflows. 

Conduct Security Assessments 

Service and Privileged Account Audits are critical for detecting dormant, overprivileged, or misused accounts—some of the financial institutions’ most common attack vectors. Weak access controls, especially within third-party integrations and cloud environments, have been repeatedly exploited in recent credit union breaches. Regular audits ensure these vulnerabilities are addressed before they can be weaponized. 

Beyond audits, penetration testing and third-party risk assessments provide a deeper understanding of real-world threats. These go beyond compliance-driven evaluations by simulating modern attack techniques, such as living-off-the-land attacks (LotL), MFA bypass methods, and cloud misconfigurations, which are increasingly used against financial institutions. 

Understand Risk 

While Risk Assessments are important for identifying gaps, conducting a Security Assessment to understand the entire environment and threat landscape will help Credit Unions anticipate threats and proactively mitigate them before they impact the business. Aligning security evaluations with operational risk ensures credit unions protect their mission-critical assets, such as core banking systems, payment processing infrastructure, and member data. Given the rise of supply chain attacks and zero-day vulnerabilities in ​​cloud systems, security assessments are essential.  

Prepare and Respond to Incidents  

A well-structured incident response strategy can mean the difference between swift recovery and prolonged financial and reputational damage. Organizations with robust response plans save an average of $1 million per breach, while those who regularly test their strategies reduce costs by $248,000 per incident. Just like you wouldn’t run a marathon without training, you shouldn’t expect to effectively respond to a cyberattack without preparation. Credit unions should develop a response plan that includes incident classification, escalation procedures, containment and recovery steps, and roles and responsibilities. A clear action plan keeps teams aligned and effective during crises and reduces the burden of an incident, saving substantial time and money. 

Every department within your credit union plays a role in defending against a cyberattack, and when an attack happens, panic and uncertainty will make the situation worse. To prepare, organizations should rely on experts to conduct tabletop exercises and guide teams through realistic cyberattack scenarios in a safe environment so that everyone, from legal to corporate communications, will understand their role in a real incident. 

At Richey May, we go beyond traditional simulations by helping teams navigate multiple potential outcomes, uncover hidden risks, and prepare for the unexpected. By practicing these scenarios, organizations can build confidence, improve response times, and minimize damage when a real incident occurs. 

Foster a Culture of Cybersecurity 

Creating a culture of cybersecurity is essential for long-term cybersecurity success. Organizations that build a culture of cybersecurity have fewer security incidents, recover more quickly from breaches and are more resilient against emerging threats. Humans remain the biggest target for attackers, and it only takes one mistake to compromise an entire environment. A culture that includes frequent training to create vigilant employees, will dramatically strengthen security posture.  

As a leader, it’s your responsibility to equip them with the knowledge and tools to identify and respond to threats effectively. This requires more than just annual or biannual training. Integrate frequent, hands-on exercises that educate employees and test their skills. This continuous learning will also help foster a mindset where security is a top priority and employees take accountability for their actions.  

Enforce Policies and Procedures 

Security needs to be woven into your daily operations through clear, well-defined policies that everyone can follow. Start by creating clear policies such as password management (requiring strong passwords and multi-factor authentication), data access controls (limiting access based on roles), and an incident reporting protocol (outlining steps for reporting security breaches). The best practice is to create a Written Information Security Program (WISP) to create an effective security program across the organization. A WISP is considered the cornerstone for information governance and a valuable tool that will also serve as a roadmap for long-term security success.  

It’s equally crucial that leadership communicates the importance of these policies, holds teams accountable, and ensures corrective action for non-compliance. Setting and enforcing clear access control rules, in particular, are key to preventing unauthorized access, including impersonators acting as legitimate members of your organization. Conducting regular assessments help ensure these policies and controls remain robust and effective. 

Continuous Monitoring and Support 

You never know when the next cybercriminal will try to enter your systems, so continuous monitoring is important. For this, you should leverage tools that can aggregate and analyze data across networks for any signs of suspicious activity. Our team at Richey May can help you assess your systems, ensure you have the right tools in place, and support you every step of the way. 

For example, we partner with best-in-class software solutions like Arctic Wolf, which offers 24/7 managed detection and response (MDR) services powered by advanced machine learning and threat intelligence to detect threats in real-time. Additionally, our cybersecurity experts can assist in fine-tuning monitoring protocols, ensuring that alerts are actionable and tailored to the credit union’s risk profile.  

Strengthening Credit Union Security with Richey May 

Richey May brings decades of financial services expertise and a risk-forward approach, empowering credit unions to manage threats while supporting digital transformation. From security assessments and compliance management to alignment with best-in-class frameworks, we provide tailored solutions that integrate security into daily operations, supporting security and growth. Our mission is to help credit unions stay secure so they can focus on what matters most: serving their members with confidence and trust.  

Recognized as Anetac’s Partner of the Year, Richey May is your trusted partner. We help you strengthen your security to continue supporting your community and safeguarding your members. Contact our team to learn more.