You are here: silicon.com > Financial Services > News

HSBC customers hit by Bangalore breach

£233,000 stolen from UK accounts...

Tags: nasscom, hsbc, bangalore

By Andy McCue

Published: 27 June 2006 17:40 BST

A security breach at HSBC's offshore data processing unit in Bangalore has led to £233,000 being stolen from the accounts of a small number of UK customers.

A 24-year-old worker at the HSBC operation has been suspended after being accused of accessing confidential account information and passing it on to criminal associates in the UK.

Fears of the security of offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) operations will be heightened by reports in India claiming the HSBC employee also used false records to obtain the job at the bank.

The HSBC worker was caught when the fraud was detected by the bank's security systems.

A spokesman for HSBC told silicon.com: "Our internal security team discovered one of HSBC's staff in Bangalore caused customer data to be leaked leading to a small number of accounts from the UK being compromised."

He declined to comment any further on the details of the breach but said all affected customers - reported to be around 20 in number - have been contacted and will be fully reimbursed for any losses.

The HSBC spokesman added: "We are taking data protection seriously. These systems are sophisticated and in place to help track these things down."

Sunil Mehta, VP of India's IT industry body Nasscom, insisted such security breaches are not unique to offshore operations and can happen in any country.

He said: "India, with its strong legal system and its independent judiciary, is a country that takes this responsibility extremely seriously. Nasscom will work with the legal authorities in the UK and India to ensure that those responsible for any criminal breaches are promptly prosecuted and face the maximum penalty."

Just last month Nasscom created a new regulatory body to help improve data security among India's offshore IT services and BPO companies.

  1. Zones
  2. Management
  3. Networks
  4. Software
  5. IT Services
  6. Hardware
  1. Verticals
  2. Public Sector
  3. Financial Services
  4. Retail & Leisure

silicon.com Financial Services
Get the latest financial services news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the FS newsletter today!


  • Jobs
Web Developer - Croydon - 30,000 - Government Body HTML / CSS

My client is a governing body and they are looking for a web developer to contribute to the online services team and procvide technical support to ...

SQL SERVER MANAGER - SOFTWARE HOUSE - 65,000 - SQL SERVER 2005

SQL Server Architect required to work for a renowned telecoms software house that work with the likes of HSBC, M.O.D, and BT. The company, due to the ...

Offshore Electronics Engineer

A successful marine contractor is seeking highly motivated and enthusiastic offshore electronics engineer. With proven experience in industry (not ...

Steve Boyle
Does Obama want the US to be the new India?
Comment: Presidential candidates battle it out on outsourcing

Steve Boyle
Woolly risk analysis is hastening a housing crash
Comment: Lenders need a sane approach to avert a crisis

Carol Wheatcroft
Will consumers always want free banking?
Targeted, bundled services will be the way to profit...

Steve Boyle
Are rogue traders an inevitable evil?
Opinion: Managers must increase diligence to beat fraud

Julian Goldsmith
Profile: Nottingham Building Society head of IT Jack Cutts
'On the wide accountancy'...

Steve Boyle
Why you should be outsourcing your data centres
Concentrate on the core business...

CIO50 2008
The silicon.com CIO50 2008 profiles the most influential and innovative tech chiefs in the UK across all industries and organisation size, from the biggest FTSE100 companies to high growth dot-com start ups and the public sector. The list was voted on by the UK CIO community and a panel of experts. Find out more in our latest special report.




Quick Sitemap Links: