A highly-sophisticated bank fraud plot was discovered in New York City last month, leading to eighteen indictments.  This plot, which involved some bank employees conspiring with the alleged ringleaders, further indicates that even if a company’s computer systems and technological infrastructure are 100% hacker-proof, information can still be compromised.

An earlier post in the GraVoc News Blog illustrated the rising “insider threat” predicted while the recession continues.  Companies’ employees, with slumping bank accounts and fear for their job security, have less to lose by defrauding the organization for which they work for their own monetary gain.  The insiders at several New York banks who decided to become co-conspirators in this crime were likely in this situation.  Due to their jobs and their access to copious information, they were an indispensible part of the puzzle, and the crime would not have been possible without their roles.

While insiders turning on their own business is never fully preventable, some measures that could be taken for a financial institution would be to implement a rigorous evaluation process in hiring new employees, tightly restricting access to sensitive information only to those who have a specific business reason to use or even see it, and take measures to curtail the possibility of any of this information to be duplicated either in paper form or electronically.

GraVoc Associates, Inc. is committed to offering advice to its information security clients on how to protect their information from both internal and external threats.  Located in Peabody, MA, GraVoc is celebrating fifteen years of business in the practices of information security, information systems, and technology and professional services.  GraVoc works with several dozen regional banks and credit unions thoughout Greater Boston and New England in the realm of information security.  For more information about services being offered, please visit GraVoc.com or contact the GraVoc offices at 978-538-9055.

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