In many ways, credit unions in particular are faced with an invaluable opportunity to reassess their core processor needs and their larger digital efforts, doubling down on those areas and initiatives that will have the biggest positive impact on not only members but on the communities that they have become an invaluable part of.

As evident by the coverage in our everyday news cycle, the last few years seem to have shown an increase in the number of hurricanes, floods, fires and other natural disasters. If the climate scientists prove correct, the increasing intensity of future storms will likely lead to a corresponding increase in devastation and losses, making recovery efforts more challenging for credit unions and their communities. This makes the importance of a disaster recovery plan for your credit union even more imperative. The ability to function, even in a modified, smaller capacity is something your employees and members will find extremely important in those difficult times.

In this day and age, new words are created every day. Whether they are new acronyms we learn from our kids texts and chats (ROFL, YOLO, SMH); different interpretations of words crowd-sourced into our language thanks to the Urban Dictionary (covfefe); the resurgence of words long lost in the archives of Webster (dotard); and words perhaps we never knew existed but are now a standard part of our lexicon, in a bigly way. While some of these terms may prove to be ephemeral and will lose relevance in no time, here are 5 terms that will NOT be fleeting when it comes to Disaster Recovery (DR) for credit unions:

From a pure business survivability standpoint, it's crucial to have Disaster Recovery Plans in place and test on a regular basis. Afterall, according to a recent study, 90% of businesses that do not have a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) fail. However, Credit unions are not immune to this threat due in part to tightening FFIEC scrutiny on Business Continuity Plans, thus they have a leg up over other sectors. The majority of businesses aren't faced with regulatory compliance that credit unions face, which is partly why the same study found that roughly 1 out of 3 businesses do not have a DRP in place, despite the inherent risks of neglecting this. The absence of DRP is simply not an option for credit unions. Compliance guidelines, examinations, and audits are in place to protect credit unions from meeting the same fate. 

While the victims of Hurricane Harvey are just beginning the struggle to get back on their feet, a new wave of devastation is again headed our way, this time in the form of Hurricane Irma. "Credit unions in the path of Hurricane Irma are being advised to take precautions as the storm bears down on the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. mainland," the NCUA advised. While strong and sometimes violent storms are not unfamiliar to our southern most residents, a storm of this magnitude will no doubt leave another wake of destruction to contend with, and the recovery from this disaster will be another pull on many resources. This is the very reason we spend so much time talking and formulating the crucial disaster recovery plan for credit unions.

The sheer size and scope of Google is astounding. The estimates are that the software needed to run all of Google’s Internet services (Google Search, Gmail, Google Maps, etc.) spans 2 billion+ lines of code. The up-time of Google Cloud Platform’s storage service, which experienced 14 minutes of downtime in a recent year, according to CloudHarmony, was a 99.9996 up-time percentage. So one thing is for sure at Google: They have sound reliability from the ground up...to the cloud!

There are multiple ways to go on the offensive against cybercriminals. Creating firewalls and installing antivirus software aren't the only solutions to protecting your credit union data. There are also system failures and outages that can pose significant threats.  Without a solid disaster recovery plan in place, it becomes survival of the fittest.  Those that can withstand the blow and recover fastest have the greatest odds of long-term survival.

The headlines seem to be consistently on the scroll: “Ransomware Attacks on the Rise” or “Company X Held Hostage by Hackers.”  What’s disturbing with these headlines is that what started off as a consumer problem is now hammering at businesses. What’s even more disturbing is that most security experts agree that it’s almost impossible to recover data that might have been encrypted in a ransomware attack without access to the decryption keys, or to a backup copy of the affected data so companies are forced to pay up to get their data back.

This week at CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference, Ted Koppel was a keynote speaker, discussing his latest book "Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath." It was a fitting discussion for credit union executives given not only the importance of disaster preparedness within our industry, but the major importance of banking and finance to our country's survival.

October marks the 12th annual National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.  This is an initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in cooperation with the National Cyber Security Alliance and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center.  And one former White House CIO has some information to share with you: She says that defensive strategies stop just one-third of threats and you should go "Go on the Cybersecurity Offensive."