11/4/11
By Sophie Baker
A panel to set regulations to protect all UK banking customers should be established by Parliament, such as the UK Payments Association.
A recent report from the Treasury Select Committee has criticised UK banks for failing to do enough to protect against online fraud, but security expert ActivIdentity believes it is wrong to tar all UK banks with the same brush.
“The Treasury Select Committee was correct in highlighting the issue of online banking security as recent research shows that attacks on large corporations such as banks has doubled since 2008, and the damage costs more than tripled,” explained David Belchick, ActivIdentity.
“While we agree with the Treasury Select Committee that there can be improvement in online security, we caution against the typical rush to judgement that all banks are not doing enough. Certainly many are afraid because of the widespread notification put out by RSA on their own security breach. Rather than cast all banks negatively, it is more important to highlight those like Metro Bank or Co-op who are actively doing something to protect their customers.”
Belchick said banks in the UK and worldwide are actively improving security and convenience for their customers, but that a large part of the problem is the explosion in mobile devices that customers are using to access and perform many banking functions.
“The bank needs to support the ever-growing number of network exposure points and be right all of the time. Thieves and fraudsters only need to be correct once to cause damage to people’s lives and a bank’s reputation.”
Strong, versatile authentication regulatory guidelines should be established by a panel or organisation such as the UK Payments Association if the Treasury Select Committee desires “real change”, Belchick said, as seen in the US, India and other nations.
“Give every customer the same security as those who bank with organisations, like Metro or Co-op, that voluntarily chose to provide their customers with solutions that address the Committee’s concerns.”
