Banks warned over IT security flaws

The number of security flaws within financial institutions' IT systems is growing fast, due in part to customer demand for internet services.

silicon.com Financial Services

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A survey of just under 400 financial institutions, ranging from high street and City banks to insurance and credit services, claimed seven per cent of the organisations tested revealed between 41 and 126 separate vulnerabilities. If found 49 per cent of financial companies had one or more high risk vulnerability.

A spokeswoman from security company NTA Monitor, which runs the survey using its own penetration testing software, told silicon.com that 32 per cent of the companies tested were in the high-risk category, although this figure was a decline from 61 per cent last year.

NTA technical director Roy Hills blames the move online as one of the primary causes of security weaknesses in the sector.

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Financial organisations are one of the frontrunners in terms of online activity, and are being pushed to open themselves up to the public by offering more online services or by allowing customers to access their personal financial data.

While this extra accessibility is of benefit to many customers, at the same time it can increase the exposure to external attacks, he warned.