Data protection risk 'growing at financial services companies'

16 January 2012

Posted by Samuel Couratin

The risk posed by mobile malware is becoming increasingly severe in the UK's financial services institutions, it has been claimed.

A new study by IDC Research has raised the issue of data protection for such companies and concluded that decision-makers pressing for innovative digital services are often being blocked by IT specialists concerned about security.

Carried out for Akamai Technologies, the investigation discovered a gap is widening between IT and business operations in the sector that is leading to "grave operational and security risks for mobile and online services".

Entitled 'New Threats Demand Innovative Responses', the report looks at the ongoing impact of the financial crisis on the industry and the need for it to safeguard data to ensure it meets customers' needs and retains their trust.

"Having invested in the front-end of online and mobile banking … institutions need to review how they protect themselves and their customers from the ever-present threat of fraudulent activity," said Akamai Chief Strategist for Financial Services, Rich Bolstridge.

An article in the Wall Street Journal has highlighted the efforts that are being made by banks to combat cyber theft and enhance security.

According to sources quoted by the newspaper, many banks are collaborating to tackle threats as they increase online and are choosing to share information in order to do so.

Officials from leading Wall Street firms are due to meet with specialists from the Polytechnic Institute of New York University and discuss the potential creation of a new centre that will detect potential attacks on banking data, while Bank of America has been holding round table talks about possible solutions to such risks.

In related news, a hacker from Israel has launched a retaliation attack, releasing details relating to hundreds of credit card customers in Saudi Arabia.

The move comes after Saudi internet criminals published data linked to Israeli credit card holders and information posted on the web included phone numbers, names and email addresses.