Customer privacy issue worries financiers

Financial institutions are increasingly concerned about protecting their customers' privacy from unauthorised access, according to a survey.

Deloitte's 2005 Global Security Review found that 83 percent of respondents -- made up of financial institutions worldwide --were worried about unauthorised people gaining access to their customers' personal information. This response compared to 62 percent in the previous year, according to a statement.

Kevin Shaw, Asia Pacific leader of security services at Deloitte, said privacy breaches had become a hot issue as IT security attacks got more serious.

"The growth in external attacks has slowed because financial institutions have become far more effective at deploying technological defences, such as intrusion detection, anti-virus solutions, content filtering and monitoring," Shaw said.

"Criminals have therefore shifted their focus to attacks from technology to human behaviour and gaps in policy enforcement and governance. They prey on the staff of financial institutions and their customers and any weaknesses they can find in human behaviour."
 
Financial institutions struggled to keep pace with the changing nature of IT security attacks, Shaw said.
 
"At a global level, only 49 percent of respondents had established the role of chief privacy officer, although five percent acknowledged they would have one by the end of the year," he said.