[LINK] Online data security and bank accounts

[Ivan Trundle]

I've been trying to tell people this for years, but nonetheless, it  
takes Jeremy Clarkson (of Top Gear fame) to discover that bank account  
security is not a trivial matter:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7174760.stm

...though £500 is a trivial amount for Mr Clarkson, I'm sure that  
Diabetes UK is very happy (for now*), and I gather that forged direct  
debits can be reversed, though not easily traced in the UK (contrary  
to the report, it IS possible to obtain evidence, since a crime was  
committed).

The fraudster would have made a bigger point by transferring money  
into Greenpeace, or Friends of the Earth. However, some believe that  
it was a Direct Debit form on the Diabetes UK website that was used to  
make the transaction. If nothing else, this highlights the fact that  
security of banking details IS important, and that direct debits can  
be a problem.

As for security with signatures needed etc, it only takes a few  
minutes of Googling to get Clarkson's signature... and if you need his  
mother's maiden name, it's on Wikipedia...

* ...but possibly not when it is discovered that their online forms  
allow transactions of this nature to take place unauthorised.


--
Ivan Trundle
http://itrundle.com ivan at itrundle.com
ph: +61 (0)418 244 259 fx: +61 (0)2 6286 8742
skype: callto://ivanovitchk