Officials from four big South African banks held talks in Johannesburg on Tuesday, and discussed the internet banking fraud which recently hit Absa, the largest bank in the country.
Absa’s information security officer Richard Peasey said: ”We took the initiative in convening the meeting to share information about this new crime with the other banks.”
The aim of the meeting was to ensure that Standard Bank, Nedcor and First National Bank benefited from the experience Absa gained in dealing with the incidents, Peasey said.
”Each of the banks will use the information provided to the benefit of their own customers.
”Absa and the rest of the banking industry have come together to combat this new crime,” Peasey said in a statement issued after the meeting.
He said Absa planned to convene similar meetings with others in the banking industry in future.
”Our focus is on educating and sharing information to ensure peace of mind for consumers.”
The meeting followed a Sunday Times report which said that a hacker was illegally transferring money from the accounts of Absa clients.
The illegal transfer of hundreds of thousands of rands was carried out apparently after the hacker had obtained Absa clients’ banking details by sending them ”spy software”.
The ”spy software” is an e-mail message that, when opened, sets itself up to record certain keystrokes on the computer and transmit these to a given address.
It was believed that the hacker obtained victims’ bank account numbers and personal identification number (PIN) in this manner.
A team of forensic experts from the Absa was assisting the police in the investigation. Police have so far received 10 complaints of fraud totalling R530 000.
The complaints were all laid at the same Cape Town police station in the course of the past two or three months, Western Cape police spokesperson Riaan Pool said on Sunday.
The clients were mainly in the Bellville area of Cape Town. All the other banks that attended the meeting said they were unaware of similar hacks into their own clients’ accounts.
”However, a Cape Town client of Standard Bank has claimed that he and his family have been victims of similar hacks,” Peasey said.
The four banks reiterated warnings on secure use of online banking services, and assured clients that their services were safe.
FNB internet banking head Roland Le Seur said: ”With the constant changes and updates made in technology come new and more advanced security risks.”
Some risks could occur on the customers’ side, Le Seur said.
Absa said in a statement that other banks were starting to investigate the way hackers defrauded bank clients.
”Internet banking is safe and clients need to be more vigilant than ever to ensure that it stays safe,” Peasey said.
Clients should prevent their key logging, and make sure that no one has unauthorised access to their PCs.
”Ensure that you have the latest anti-virus applications loaded on your PC,” he said. ”Your local supplier will provide you with details in this regard.
”Do not open suspicious or unfamiliar e-mails; ensure that you have control over the shared folders on your PC as a shared folder could make your PC vulnerable.” – Sapa