Insider Identity Theft
Banks are spending millions preventing outsiders from stealing their customers’ identities, but there is a growing insider threat:
Widespread outsourcing of data management and other services has exposed some weaknesses and made it harder to prevent identity theft by insiders.
“There are lots of weak links,” said Oveissi Field. “Back-up tapes are being sent to offsite storage sites or being mailed and getting into the wrong hands or are lost through carelessness.”
In what many regard as the biggest wake-up call in recent memory for financial institutions, thieves disguised as cleaning staff last year nearly stole the equivalent of more than $400 million from the London branch of Sumitomo Mitsui.
LsH • December 8, 2006 9:23 AM
Insiders have always a lot more chances to attack a system then outsiders. I think the numbers are still to small to convince the banks from creating a good structure. As I look to the acceptation of loss in credit card systems – or the leaking Internet banking systems – I think it make no sense to them. The rules don’t force the banks to solve the problems. As long as the loss is cheaper to take as the security measures how prevent this, it will be going on.