Category: Security

Hackers Wreaking Havoc on Financial Records

If there were 2 million bank robberies in just one day in the United States, it is likely that someone would sit up and take notice. According to the FBI, the equivalent of that number of bank robberies is taking place every day in cyberspace. In only the past half year computer hackers have made off with 2.4 million financial records, on average, every single day. According to USA Today 439 records were stolen and 500 million were compromised during the past year.

“We’re in a day when a person can commit about 15,000 bank robberies sitting in their basement,”

said Robert Anderson, executive assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Cyber Response and Services Branch.

Some of the better known businesses that have been targets of cyber-thievery are Target, Home Depot and JP Morgan Chase. Tim Pawlenty, president of the Financial Services Roundtable and former Republican governor of Minnesota, said that around half of all adult Americans, or about 110 million people, have had their financial data compromised one way or another during the past year. The vast majority of businesses who have been hacked don’t even realize their accounts have fallen into the wrong hands until financial institutions or customers tell them, according to a study conducted by Verizon.

Treasury Calls for Financial Institutions and Congress to Boost Cybersecurity

Urging financial institutions and companies to do what is needed to protect consumers; US Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew spoke at the Institutional Investor’s 4th Annual Delivering Alpha Conference and CNBC. Lew said that US financial institutions must protect their customers against cybersecurity thefts, disruptions and attacks.  He said that our institutions of finance should utilize the Administration’s new cybersecurity framework not only with their own systems but also as a means to evaluate outside vendors.

“The consequences of cyber incidents are serious,” Secretary Lew said. “When credit card data is stolen, it disturbs lives and damages consumer confidence. When trade secrets are robbed, it undercuts America’s businesses and undermines U.S. competitiveness. And successful attacks on our financial system would compromise market confidence, jeopardize the integrity of data, and pose a threat to financial stability.”

While the new framework, which is called “Improving Critical Infrastructure and Cybersecurity” as 2013 Executive Order 13636, is being implemented, more needs to be done to improve our ability to fight cyber threats. Secretary Lew has been calling on Congress to pass all-encompassing laws which will improve the state of information sharing by making provisions for targeted liability protections while at the same time protecting privacy.

“As it stands, our laws do not do enough to foster information sharing and defend the public from digital threats. We need legislation with clear rules to encourage collaboration and provide important liability protection. It must be safe for companies to collaborate responsibly, without providing immunity for reckless, negligent or harmful behavior. And we need legislation that protects individual privacy and civil liberties, which are so essential to making the United States a free and open society. We appreciate the bipartisan interest in addressing this important issue, and the Administration will continue to work with key stakeholders on the various bills that are developing in Congress,” added Secretary Lew.