With headlines constantly announcing new cyberattacks that involve the large-scale theft of sensitive data, the public has gradually become indifferent to data breaches. Americans are becoming primed to believe nothing can be done to prevent hacking and have become apathetic regarding their own personal protection. Meanwhile, cyber criminals have become more sophisticated with their attacking techniques and are able to profit by selling breached data on the Black Market (Dark Web), where personal information ranging from social media credentials to banking login credentials can be sold quickly for hundreds of dollars.

In today's digital world, an individual's personal data is increasingly valuable and vulnerable; yet, a majority of Americans lack knowledge about key cybersecurity concepts that could help protect themselves online. According to a Pew Research Center survey, only 1% of individuals could answer 13 cybersecurity-related questions correctly. The same survey revealed that 17% of adults are not sure how to identify the strongest password from a list of choices and 20% are unsure whether public Wi-Fi is safe for sensitive activities like online banking.

Given that cybersecurity knowledge is so low, it can be difficult for credit unions to ensure that members are adequately protecting their sensitive financial information. This means it is also challenging for credit unions to find quality hires for cybersecurity and IT teams. Cybersecurity talent is a scarce commodity. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were more than 200,000 security jobs left unfilled in 2016. This shortage is felt by small regional credit unions, which already have an even smaller pool of resources to select from in their respective markets.