Oh Lord, make the banks pay for cybercrime

Davey Winder
Wednesday, 09 July 2008 07:30

Your IT - Home IT

Lord Sutherland of Houndwood, Chairman of the Lords Science and Technology Committee, said "we are disappointed that they still will not accept that there should be legislation to establish the principle that banks should be liable for refunding the victims of online fraud. The Banking Code does not offer enough protection. We believe that legislation would have the added advantage of encouraging the banks to be more proactive about improving the security of their online banking operations."

On the matter of police reporting, Lord Sutherland commented "It is also vital that the victims of e-crime can report crime directly to the police. If you were robbed in the street you would expect the police to recognise it as a crime and try to catch the person responsible. If you are a victim of online fraud, you should be entitled to the same protection."