The big cheese at one of UK’s major banks is losing sleep over cyber crooks targeting the institution. HSBC UK chief executive Ian Stuart spilled the beans to a group of MPs on the Treasury Committee, admitting that the bank is under constant attack. “It really keeps me up at night,” he confessed, highlighting the relentless nature of the threats.
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Stuart revealed that banks like HSBC are shelling out “huge” amounts, in the realm of hundreds of millions of pounds, on beefing up their IT systems, which is the largest expense in their operations. “Cybersecurity has become a top priority for us,” he emphasized, underscoring the critical nature of protecting the bank from online threats.
Image: Ian Stuart, chief executive of HSBC UK, appearing before the Treasury Committee. Pic: PA
The anxiety surrounding cyber threats was echoed by Lloyds Bank chief executive Charlie Nunn, who warned that financial fraud could spiral out of control if banks fail to intervene effectively. Nunn also pointed fingers at social media and telecom companies, suggesting that they lack the motivation to tackle the issue. According to Nunn, the UK has turned into a hotspot for fraud, with a high number of victims and distressing individual cases.
Major retailers like M&S and the Co-op have recently fallen prey to cyber attacks, leading to disruptions in their operations. The impact of such incidents reverberates across the business landscape, emphasizing the need for robust cybersecurity measures.
Cybersecurity threats were not the root cause of the prolonged service disruption at Barclays towards the end of January, clarified Vim Maru, the bank’s UK chief executive. Maru assured that lessons had been learned from the incident, with internal improvements and external assistance being implemented to prevent a recurrence. Despite the setbacks, Maru highlighted that significant investments had been made in IT infrastructure, resulting in a decrease in customer-facing issues.
Account holders across the country have endured a series of IT glitches from various banks around payday periods this year. While the financial sector grapples with technological challenges, efforts are being made to enhance system resilience and minimize disruptions for customers. The episode at Barclays was attributed to a software glitch, which has since been rectified to prevent future occurrences.
