DBS Card Skimming Saga - Excerpts from Sunday Times 15/01/2012

[monstaR]

your deposits are safe cos they are secured by SDIC, but not banks are equally safe. DBS is partly owned by Temasek, but they are not ran by govt. technically speaking, govt has no obligation to bailout banks cos they are "too big to fail."
regardless, any big corporations (especially banks) will compensate mass public for reputation, goodwill and publicity sake. iirc, SIA paid full compensation for the taiwan mishap even before they commenced investigation, and that instead generated loads of good will and positive publicity.

Agreed but have to say that it gives me a peace of mind compared to banks like Maybank etc etc...... At the end of the day there will be technological risk involved based on convenience like ATM withdrawals unless you are more than happy to make all withdrawals over the counter and make all purchases in cash.

[glennyuen]

follow me... pay by Ezlink card safest...

[triton]

DBS Card Skimming Saga - Excerpts from Sunday Times 15/01/2012

The one statement that I feel the person has no idea what expectations of the public has for a bank's (Singapore People's Bank) security. I do not say i know alot on security, but what i have learn in my course of study is be aware of the threats, managed the threats.

I have noticed that many private homes owner do at least lock the door, get a guard dog (is possible), install burglar alarm and setup IDS(intrusion detection system).

As a bank, the assets is far more than just 1 family. So at least the bank needs to employ many different layers of security to safeguard all assets regardless it is cash, ATM, safe deposit boxes, documents, etc.

For perpetrator(s), there are different level of mindset. some are deterred just by say an anti-skimming card device, while others, it takes more than just that. Look at what these perpetrators(currently 3 suspects) did. they managed to counter the anti-skim devices, they managed to install camera to capture the pin (assuming that they did use when police found on them with tiny surveillance camera).

So the analogy that all layers of security measures are employed is rare. i find this appalling. if a house owner chooses not to employ infra-red camera IDS, the loss in worst case scenario is just 1 household. but for a bank, it is not just a single household.

when i was studying overseas, the house i stayed in has got grilled gates on not just main door but also back of the house, a keylock, a dead bolt lock on main door, there are security lights which are motion sensor @ all entrances. there are also grill gates on all windows. if you think this is not enough, i even install an alarm system for the owner in return that they charge me a slightly lower rental as it will eventually be left behind for owner when i leave the house. the alarm system is infra-red indoors and it can handle situations where dog(s) are within the premise. this is because i have 2 dogs as well.

some of you may think that it is an over-kill, however deployment of security measures is somewhat like buying insurance. it is something that you may not need it currently but when you need it, it can 'protect' you including assets to a certain extent.

as a consumer of the bank, i would expect that as many layers of security measures are employed for my trust in a bank. is cost an issue? how can it be when they are declaring profits annually for the past years.

on the hindsight, perpetrators are devising ways to bypass security measures. the onus is for the protectors to be pro-active to stay one step ahead. as some of you have always hear me say, for defenders it is a 24 hours round the clock protection. for attackers, they just need 1 moment of lapse in just 1 security layer to lapse and they are in.

the loss is for the bank may be manageable, but at what cost? i have lost faith in this bank(probably other banks) as well. i might as well keep my money in my pillow and sleep on it or my milo tin in the kitchen. more so as interest rates are so miserable @ less than 1%.

more important, what is DBS and other banks going to do to protect our assets when we place our trust in them. as a protector of our assets, they have a duty of care.



"Employing different layers of security

'It is fair to say that the more security measures you leave on, the better you are likely to be protected.

The analogy is a house: You can lock the door, get a guard dog, get a security guard, install a burglar alarm, set up an infrared intruder detection system.

Each additional precaution adds an additional layer of security, but it is rare for every precaution available to be used as a norm.'

DBS, in a statement to The Sunday Times yesterday"

[dogtalkcock]

Good article......well said

I hate to say this besides security on recent DBS saga......
More local government companies are getting from bad to worst, instead of focusing on people's service, love, trust and care....
What have they done to improve in their services? paying their management and CEOs millions of bonus? KPI?

look at recent articles on fares increment, services? NTUC, DBS, MRT, PUB?

They have long forgotten that people like us are their main assets, citizens like us contribute to their fat bonus, least you should provide is basic good services and create an environment where i feel comfortable and safe taking cab and mrt, trust putting my money in banks and government stop increasing electricity and water bills cause to many this are our basic needs.

[triton]

took DBS ~ 1 week to apologize.

DBS apologizes on 11/1/2012

has the bank even apologize for this security breach/lapse?

[Goemon]

Good article......well said

I hate to say this besides security on recent DBS saga......
More local government companies are getting from bad to worst, instead of focusing on people's service, love, trust and care....
What have they done to improve in their services? paying their management and CEOs millions of bonus? KPI?

look at recent articles on fares increment, services? NTUC, DBS, MRT, PUB?

They have long forgotten that people like us are their main assets, citizens like us contribute to their fat bonus, least you should provide is basic good services and create an environment where i feel comfortable and safe taking cab and mrt, trust putting my money in banks and government stop increasing electricity and water bills cause to many this are our basic needs.

IMOH Sad to say Local government companies are over rated and utterly complacent. Better to spread your eggs and not put all in one basket. After all they have thousands of companies, faults and mis-judgments cannot be easily identify. Lehan Brothers collapse is one of the examples.

[triton]

now, i am waiting if DBS will reveal the findings of the investigation

with reference to this article, the excerpts as below :

"At a DBS/POSB ATM, a green device is attached to the slot where one inserts the bank's card. This anti-skimming device plays a part in keeping money safe.

Some said what could have happened was that the security system was somehow bypassed, allowing unauthorised withdrawals to be made from accounts through the use of copied information from the original bank cards.

Gerard Tan, president of the Association of Information Security Professionals, said: "You need two pieces of information to make a fake card. One is the magnetic strip information and the other is the Personal Identification Number (PIN).

"So the person who is going to commit this fraud need to capture that through a device which reads the card magnetic information and he needs to then capture the PIN itself through maybe a device like a camera or his eyes - his observation from his eyes. Combine the two together, and you can then create a fake ATM card.""

how many went missing

this is appalling......