Staveley Shares Insights on Digital Trust

Confidence Staveley

Confidence Staveley told attendees that creating a digital environment people can truly rely on is key for credit unions in the first keynote address of WCUC 2025—"Building Trust is the Only Future That Matters”.

Staveley, a cybersecurity expert, emphasized that is important because it is exactly the online tools people trust most that a new group of online criminals is targeting. According to Staveley, a hacking group called “Scattered Spider” is comprised of young hackers who impersonate real people to extort organizations for money and, in the interest of credit unions, gain access financial accounts.

“Once they’re able to get to our soft spots—soft spots like some of our services we are offshoring to other countries, like service desks—they’re able to use those other services and other arenas to hit us,” said Staveley. “Everyone who has access to the tools you use, everyone you give access to the MPIs your engine offers, everyone you’ve given access to a session for one thing or another, they are all pathways to your digital trust verification (system).”   

Staveley says it is important for credit unions to ask specific questions of themselves and third parties when it comes to protecting their members.

“We must ensure and demand that the vendor also supports phishing-resistant identity verification for their own staff,” said Staveley. “You must ensure (and demand) your own system is also properly designed and secured.”