Sumitomo repeat inevitable, warns MP

Bruce George, MP for Walsall for the last 24 years, claimed poor staff vetting is allowing criminals access to sensitive information and posing a major security risk.

"We'll certainly see it happen again," said George. "With the amount of staff being employed without the proper checks, its only a matter of time before someone truly malevolent slips through."

At the same time George called for better security at Portcullis House (where some MP's offices are based in London) and a range of different industries, including finance and medicine.

The MP's comments arrived during the launch of a new service from Secure Risk Management (SRM) that offers a vetting procedure compliant with BS 7858:2004. The standard, at its most basic level, includes verification of address, a credit check, ten-year employment verification and two written references.

"The amount of staff that slip through the net is astonishing," said Michael Dick, chairman at SRM. "You can spend all the money in the world of protecting the perimeter, but once you lower that drawbridge and let the Trojan Horses in, it's money wasted."

In March SC reported British police foiled a $423 million attempted cyberheist, in which key-logging equipment was placed into the back of bank keyboards in order to steal banking information.

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