RILA Urges Continued Collaboration on Cybersecurity

On the first day of National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), Brian Dodge, RILA's Executive Vice President for Communications and Special Initiatives, discussed the work retailers are doing to defend against cyber criminals at the Washington Post Cybersecurity Summit 2014.

​"We need to be working with each other, we need to be working with the government and we need to be working between industries, which is something that we have done after many years of doing battle over a variety of things," said Dodge. "The financial services industry and the merchant community came together early this year to figure out other ways for us to truly work together because we represent the full length of the payments ecosystem, from the card networks to the big banks, small banks, all kinds of merchants."

To view the video, click the image below or this link: http://wapo.st/1xBo0vR


WaPo_Cyber_Event.PNG
RILA's Dodge participating in the panel, "Securing Credit Cards and Clouds" with moderator Mary Jordan, Washington Post; Jane Holl Lute, President and Chief Executive Officer, Council on CyberSecurity and former Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security; Erin Jacobs, Managing Partner, Urbane Security; and Ellen Richey, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Chief Enterprise Risk Officer, Visa Inc. 

 

During this year's National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, RILA will continue encouraging collaboration among all stakeholders in the ecosystem. Cyber-criminals are persistent, their methods are dynamic and no industry, institution or government is immune from attack.

"RILA is committed to working with all stakeholders in the payments ecosystem to ensure a safer and more secure environment for our consumers," said Sandy Kennedy, President of RILA. "As we have seen, the increasingly sophisticated threat posed by cyber criminals is not unique to any one business, institution, industry or government. In the spirit of NCSAM's theme, our shared responsibility, public- and private-sector must continue to work together to improve debit and credit card security, identify threats and share information to best defend against cyber attacks,"

In January, at the direction of the RILA Board of Directors, the association launched the RILA Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Initiative, a comprehensive initiative that has since brought together public- and private sector stakeholders to improve cyber threat information sharing and enhance collaboration with banks and card networks.

In February, RILA co-led the formation of the Merchant Financial Services Partnership, a partnership between the merchant community and the financial services industry aimed at strengthening cybersecurity throughout the electronic payments ecosystem. This partnership has now grown to 19 trade associations.

In addition, RILA and some of America's most recognized retail brands announced the formation of the Retail Cyber Intelligence Sharing Center (R-CISC), a non-profit corporation launched by leaders in the retail industry, to promote cybersecurity and data privacy through all appropriate means. Developed with the input of over 50 retailers, the R-CISC consists of three components:

  • Retail Information Sharing & Analysis Center (ISAC): bringing retailers together for omni-directional sharing of actionable cyber threat intelligence, and functions as a conduit for retailers to receive threat information from government entities and other cyber intelligence sources.
  • Education & Training: working with retailers and partners to develop and provide both education and training to empower information security professionals in retail and related industries.​
  • Research: looking to the future, undertaking research and development projects in partnership with academia, thought leaders, and subject matter experts in order to better understand threats on the horizon.​

To learn more visit www.R-CISC.org

National Cyber Security Awareness Month is co-sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in cooperation with the NCSA and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center. Now in its 11th year, NCSAM has grown to include the participation of a multitude of industry leaders — reaching consumers, small and medium-size businesses, corporations, educational institutions and young people. Learn more about National Cyber Security Awareness Month here: http://www.staysafeonline.org/ncsam/landing-page/.

Many organizations host portals and provide tips to help people be safer and more secure online.

Recommended resources to learn more about staying safe online include:

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) is the trade association for the world’s largest and most innovative retail companies. RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs, and more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities, and distribution centers domestically and abroad.
 

Stay in the know

Subscribe to our newsletter