HSBC is offering some customers five years’ worth of free credit monitoring service after learning that a rogue employee had been improperly accessing customer information since early this year. The offer of extended services was for those who information had been accessed multiple times. Others were offered 1 year of free services. You can read…
Category: Financial Sector
How Germany’s taxman used stolen data to squeeze Switzerland
Edward Taylor, Matthias Inverardi and Mark Hosenball report: In the digital age, pen and paper are useful tools for intrigue. In 2007, Sina Lapour, an assistant to a private banker at Credit Suisse, hand-copied the names of potential tax evaders listed on two of the firm’s internal computer systems. By not downloading information, Lapour avoided…
Western Union dismisses threat of data security breach at PrivatBank
Christopher J. Miller reports: A regional head of the U.S.-based financial services and communications company Western Union said he is not worried about recent security breaches at Ukraine’s largest bank which allowed a hacker to obtain sensitive data of Western Union customers, potentially putting them at risk for fraud. Ulugbek Umarov, Western Union country director…
European Data Protection Authorities investigate bank data security
The Belgian and Dutch Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) will be conducting an investigation into the security of SWIFT’s payment networks following, among others, international media reports on foreign intelligence services – possibly the NSA – allegedly having unlawful access under European law to financial messaging data at SWIFT. The Dutch Data Protection Authority (CBP) and the Belgian…
Australian Bitcoin bank hacked: $1m+ stolen
Ben Grubb reports: A four-month-old Australian Bitcoin bank holding more than $1 million has been hacked, leaving thousands of customers in the lurch including a man who claims he was holding the virtual currency to buy a house with his girlfriend. The alleged hacking happened on both October 23 and 26, with the service’s operator,…
AU: Hunter United Credit Union admits it tried to avoid embarrassment over email privacy breach
So you goofed and disclosed customers’ e-mail addresses in the To: or CC: field. Should you: (a) immediately acknowledge the gaffe, or (b) say nothing and hope that people don’t notice? Hint: the correct answer is (a).