But banks and bank customers, take note. That reality should convince even the financial institutions with the stoutest security to pay closer attention. Alas, that message still may not be getting through to the banking industry. A lot of other industries often pay more attention to security than some of the banks we talk to. Bywater says e-commerce is embraced as business development, first and foremost, by most banks and financial institutions.
Security ends up as a secondary concern.
Even when companies install good security, they often ignore the necessary procedural safeguards such as routine maintenance. Fact is, the software packages and security strategies that banks are using to protect themselves and their customers could be far less secure than advertised. Dozens of companies currently sell software for secure banking, but no independent auditing board exists to check on the veracity of their security claims. And such information provides an easy route to further fraud. Aside from addresses, many banks store Social Security numbers in the same data records.