CUNA Seeks Insight from NCUA on SolarWinds Cyberattack

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 17, 2020
Washington, DC

CONTACT:
Lauren Williams
CUNA Communications
202-672-3396      

Credit Union National Association (CUNA) today sent a letter to the National Credit Union Association (NCUA) to express concerns about the recent SolarWinds cyberattack and its impact on the agency. The data breach, which is said to be the most significant cyberattack in recent history, corrupted the Orion IT monitoring platform to infiltrate systems across the country, including credit unions and other financial institutions.

“As the NCUA seeks to determine the attack’s impact on the agency and as credit unions do the same, CUNA members have two concerns,” wrote CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “First, we urge the agency to be forthright in its communications with credit unions if it is determined that the agency is impacted. Second, we call on NCUA to suspend the collection of data from credit unions until it can ascertain that its systems have not been and are not compromised.” 

In the letter, CUNA suggests that the NCUA consider issuing guidance to alleviate stress from impacted credit unions as the full scope of the data breach is yet to be determined due to the complexity of the attack.

The data breach, which started in March, pushed malicious code to an estimated 18,000 SolarWinds customers via the Orion platform. CUNA is working with the NCUA, the Department of the Treasury, and other federal agencies to determine the impact on the financial sector and next steps for credit unions.

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About CUNA:           
Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America’s credit unions, which are owned by 120 million consumer members. CUNA, along with its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, delivers unwavering advocacy, continuous professional growth and operational confidence to protect the best interests of all credit unions. For more information about CUNA, visit cuna.org. To find your nearest credit union, visit YourMoneyFurther.com.