£233,000 stolen from UK accounts...
By Andy McCue
Published: 27 June 2006 17:40 GMT
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.
This is another blow for the reputation of India a...
Mark Kobayashi-Hillary
Hi , My Question is this,How many times was H.S.B....
Anonymous
Coordinates integration tests, system connections and system build dependencies with the Technical Environment SMEs non SAP, the Technical ...
COMPANY INFORMATION - Established in 1997 - Approx 70 UK Employees - Fast growing UK owned organisation - Clients include DEFRA, HSBC, Dell, Lloyds, ...
In order for you to be considered for this position the following criteria have been set; Previous experience of being responsible for producing a ...
Agenda Setters 2009
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.
Stories from the web...
Copyright © 2008 CBS Interactive Limited. All rights reserved. Top of page
Nick Beecham and Belinda Doshi
No more tax breaks for offshoring?
Financial services firms must prepare now for 2010 legal changes
Tim Ferguson
On a new Voyager, tackling fraud and the intellectual challenge
Interview: Nationwide IT director, Peter Stafford
Nick Heath
David Lister on smart grids and why he left RBS
Interview: National Grid CIO
Andy Jones
Why banks will push ahead with offshoring
Comment: Even if they don't want to
Catherine Stagg-Macey
Legacy IT holding back insurers
Comment: Economic crisis means finance giants must step lively
Julian Goldsmith
The City fund manager with no IT department
Q&A: How asset management is embracing the cloud...