Its Symitar® division today announced a partnership with Stickley on Security (SoS) to give its core credit unions access to SoS Advisor, an FFIEC compliant member education and awareness service.

Credit union members were among the more than 13.1 million adult victims of identity fraud in 2013, an increase of over 500,000 from 2012 according to an Identity Fraud Industry Report issued by Javelin Strategy & Research. This means that a U.S. citizen falls victim to identity fraud every two seconds.

SoS Advisor is a Web-based utility that provides comprehensive security education on topics such as phishing, fraud, identity theft, malware, and the many other scams that circulate. It keeps members aware of all current security risks with continually updated written content, and provides the actionable information needed to help keep a member's financial information secure. SoS Advisor is designed to reduce fraud costs through education and awareness, and it has the added benefit of allowing members to promote their credit unions through social media. All of SoS Advisor's articles, alerts, education, and videos can be shared, giving exposure to members and non-members alike.

San Diego County Credit Union has already implemented SoS Advisor. CEO Teresa Halleck, said, "With a greater prevalence of fraud and identity theft in recent years, helping members protect their confidential data is of the utmost importance to us. Access to SoS Advisor educates our members about possible security risks, keeping them informed of new breaches and attacks while also helping mitigate potential threats."

Ray Spreier, CIO at Mid Oregon Credit Union, commented, "Adding SoS Advisor to our website took less than a day and we began receiving member compliments and thanks the first weekend it was live. Security education is not something that can be buried deep in a website. The news ticker option within SoS Advisor enables our credit union to promote security awareness throughout the entire site."

SoS Advisor also offers security education videos, quick tips and quizzes, allowing credit union members to choose the media most fitting their education preference. Because SoS Advisor is a cloud-based tool, credit unions can fully customize the look and feel through a Web browser and then integrate the complete solution with a single line of code to any existing webpage.

Ted Bilke, president of Symitar, said, "Our credit union clients continue to look for new and effective ways to mitigate fraud. Our partnership with Stickley on Security offers them the ability to take a proactive stance in helping their members fight back. When individuals are aware of the risks and understand how identity thieves think, they are far less likely to become victims. Providing comprehensive security awareness and education not only builds a stronger relationship between credit unions and their members, but ultimately reduces the costs associated with member fraud."