The internet and digital television could be the new Klondike for hi-tech criminals, Marlborough Stirling has warned.
Although there is still a need for Government legislation, Marlborough Stirling said that, in the meantime, it was committed to providing the most protective technology available to front its applications.
David Edwards, Marlborough Stirling’s director of e-commerce, said that some of the more recent high profile cases reported in the media, including mobile phone bandits who stole £1m worth of premium rate calls from Scotland Yard’s own switchboard, had created a climate where the public’s fear of electronic crime may become greater than the actual risk.
Detailed statistics on the extent of electronic swindles in the UK have yet to be published as the sector is so young.
However, latest figures from PricewaterhouseCoopers show fraudulent internet transactions in the US are now responsible for half of the nation’s £20bn total fraud.
Edwards said: “Criminals may, at this very moment, be dedicating themselves to working out how to hack into financial services transactions on the internet or interactive TV. The Metropolitan Police computer crime unit has been reported saying that the internet was creating a whole new class of criminal.
“They might be iniquitous, but they are also extremely clever and technologically astute, and they are determined to exploit what they see as a vast new area for highly profitable activity.”
Although the risk to lenders and borrowers is minimal, where the correct infrastructures have been set up, security should not be taken lightly.
Edwards added: “There is no point in having the technology if you do not use it properly. You need to carry out penetration tests on a regular basis , perhaps using so-called ‘ethical hackers’ to check accounts are secure.”
