With the annual cost of ATM crime in Europe approaching half a billion Euros, the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), is advising consumers to be more aware of the risks and take precautions to avoid personal loss. The rapid growth in the number of ATMs, together with more sophisticated attacks and fraud has resulted in an alarming 149% rise in ATM attacks in 2008.
These worrying findings, along with information and case studies highlighting the different ATM crimes and recommendations to help detect and prevent them, have been published in a paper by ENISA entitled ‘ATM Crime: Overview of the European situation and golden rules on how to avoid it’.
The number of ATMs in Europe increased 6% last year to almost 400,000, with many now found in remote site locations such as convenience stores, airports and petrol stations. Seventy-two percent of European ATMs are located in just five countries: UK, Spain, Germany, France and Italy.
Cash taken illegally from ATMs is still the preferred method for criminals who obtain pin numbers using a wide range of techniques from ‘shoulder surfing’ to complex skimming techniques. This can involve the usage of a small spy camera, a false PIN overlay and even fake machines; while increasingly Blue Tooth wireless technology is used to transmit card and PIN details to a nearby laptop computer. During 2008 alone, a total of 10,302 skimming incidents were reported in Europe.
Other methods used to extract money include trapping and then retrieving users’ cards, stopping withdrawals in the middle of a transaction only to complete them when the victim has left and even trapping cash in the machine. Organised criminal gangs are also using sophisticated phishing techniques and hacking into bank computer systems and web sites to obtain PIN and account information.
ATM burglaries and physical attacks have also seen an increase by 32% over the last 12 months from ram raids and explosions to the use of rotary saws, thermal lances and diamond drills.
As part of this process ENISA has drawn up its list of Golden Rules to offer maximum protection with minimum effort. You can download the ENISA report at http://www.enisa.europa.eu/doc/pdf/publications/ATM_crime.pdf
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
The Informal Remittances Sector in Nigeria
An interesting piece of news from Nigeria. It looks like deceptive practices among some bank officials have created opportunities for the informal operators to thrive in the money remittances market.
Click on the Post heading to access the full article.
Click on the Post heading to access the full article.
Monday, 31 August 2009
India also upbeat on Remittances
Along the same lines as the previous post, Remittances to India have not slowed down significantly according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Writing in its annual report the RBI said "Available information indicates that inward remittances to India have not been impacted significantly by the economic crisis," also contradicting popular perception of a severe impact on remittances.
According to the World Bank estimates (in July 2009), remittance flows to developing countries, which increased to $ 328 billion in 2008 from $ 285 billion in 2007, are projected to decline by 7.3 per cent in 2009, the RBI said.
Click on the post headline to read the full article.
Writing in its annual report the RBI said "Available information indicates that inward remittances to India have not been impacted significantly by the economic crisis," also contradicting popular perception of a severe impact on remittances.
According to the World Bank estimates (in July 2009), remittance flows to developing countries, which increased to $ 328 billion in 2008 from $ 285 billion in 2007, are projected to decline by 7.3 per cent in 2009, the RBI said.
Click on the post headline to read the full article.
Remittances continue to grow
The global economic crisis has led to dire predictions of a dramatic fall off in Migrant Workers Remittances. Just how true is this? Looking at the news reports coming in from across the globe it does seem that while there was indeed a fall-off especially at the end of 2008 and early 2009, all signs now seem to point to continuing healthy flows of these funds.
According to the state-run “Land Bank of the Philippines” remittances may grow by as much as 3.1% this year as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are expected to send more money to their families this semester as the holiday season nears. Read all the details at http://www.bworldonline.com/BW083109/content.php?id=053
According to the state-run “Land Bank of the Philippines” remittances may grow by as much as 3.1% this year as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are expected to send more money to their families this semester as the holiday season nears. Read all the details at http://www.bworldonline.com/BW083109/content.php?id=053
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Is cost cutting behind the PayPal & Google Apps outages?
Recent repeated outages at PayPal as well as outages at Google Apps software could, according to some observers, be the result of IT budget and personnel cutbacks. This gives a whole new twist to the affects of the current recession.
See the full Computerworld article at http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/342159/Cutbacks_Could_Be_Causing_IT_Outages
See the full Computerworld article at http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/342159/Cutbacks_Could_Be_Causing_IT_Outages
Saturday, 22 August 2009
Transport tickets to be replaced by mobile phones and bank cards?
The UK government is proposing the introduction of an England-wide smart ticketing system that will let travelers pay for bus and train journeys using their NFC-enabled bank cards and mobile phones. This plan come in the wake of London's successful Oyster card system, which is now used for 78% of bus and tube journeys.
The idea is a national ticketing infrastructure using the government-backed ITSO smartcard specification which will enable 'tickets' to work anywhere in the country. Travelers could then use mobile phones and bank cards to pay directly for journeys by tapping them against specially equipped readers.
A consultation on the ticketing proposals can be found at: http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/smartticketing/ or click on the post title.
The proposal explains the concepts of smart and integrated ticketing, summarizes the current smart and integrated ticketing schemes in England, outlines the department’s vision for the future of smart and integrated ticketing and seeks to learn the consultees’ views on the subject and how much involvement they feel the Department should have in implementing such schemes.
The idea is a national ticketing infrastructure using the government-backed ITSO smartcard specification which will enable 'tickets' to work anywhere in the country. Travelers could then use mobile phones and bank cards to pay directly for journeys by tapping them against specially equipped readers.
A consultation on the ticketing proposals can be found at: http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/smartticketing/ or click on the post title.
The proposal explains the concepts of smart and integrated ticketing, summarizes the current smart and integrated ticketing schemes in England, outlines the department’s vision for the future of smart and integrated ticketing and seeks to learn the consultees’ views on the subject and how much involvement they feel the Department should have in implementing such schemes.
Saturday, 15 August 2009
Risk Management in a Post-Financial Crisis World
By Stanley Epstein – Principal Associate at Citadel Advantage
One thing that the financial meltdown has show in crystal clear relief is that among the many contributing factors, there can be no doubt that Risk Management didn’t adequately manage risk. Why this was so is going to be the subject of much debate in the coming months and years. Were Risk Managers constrained by the executive suite who wouldn’t hear the warnings, or were Risk Managers not answering or not even able to answer the basic questions of their trade? Whatever the reason the profession of Risk Management has some deep soul-searching to do.
Now, all of a sudden, that the economies of many countries, not to mention the banking industry, is in tatters, we have dozens of articles and blogs all bemoaning the state of risk management and what we need to do to get everything right again; as if there is some elixir, or some magic wand that will put it all right.
All these blogs and articles are pounding away on the same old drum; all are documenting how badly everyone has done in managing risk and all are extolling bank boards, senior management, regulators and rating agencies to do better next time.
Where were all these authors and bloggers in the good times? Where were they in the heady days prior to the summer of 2007 when the banks and the rest of the financial industry was gaily acting if the only way forward was “up”; when the “old” economy had been declared dead as a dodo and the mantra of the “new economy” was “profits”, “bonuses” and “innovation”. Like the “old economy”, “risk” in all its forms had, by the invocation of all the new hedging and derivative strategies been declared dead too.
True there were some (all too few) who sounded dire warnings of where this was going to end – but who wants a Jonah in their midst when there is a never-ending beach party on the go?
As a professional risk management practitioner and trainer I really feel aggrieved with all the soul searching and hand wringing going on at the moment. Tell me please where all these new risk averse converts have come from? Where were they when they were really needed?
Now that the party is finally over it is time to do things properly. Risk management in the first decade of the 21st century failed miserably. The tone at the top was rotten, whether in the banks or the regulatory agencies or the risk raters themselves. And this rot permeated all the way down to the bottom of the pile.
What were the failures?
The failure to measure risk – risk models were misused, misspecified and most of all misunderstood.
The failure in training – bank boards and regulators were not adequately instructed in what “risk” really meant. Bank staff was only trained in the three P’s – Product, Performance and Profit. Issues like risk concentration, scenario planning, operational failures were only concepts that made one sound intelligent. Worst of all – risk management costs money and of course “unjustified costs” are the bane of every diligent (but not prudent) banker.
The failure to mitigate risk – without understanding risk it cannot truly be measured and without measurement it cannot be mitigated. These factors are interconnected. The one leads to the other.
Enough of this hand wringing! We all know where the blame lies. What is needed now is some courageous risk managers who will roll up their sleeves and get the job done – properly this time.
One thing that the financial meltdown has show in crystal clear relief is that among the many contributing factors, there can be no doubt that Risk Management didn’t adequately manage risk. Why this was so is going to be the subject of much debate in the coming months and years. Were Risk Managers constrained by the executive suite who wouldn’t hear the warnings, or were Risk Managers not answering or not even able to answer the basic questions of their trade? Whatever the reason the profession of Risk Management has some deep soul-searching to do.
Now, all of a sudden, that the economies of many countries, not to mention the banking industry, is in tatters, we have dozens of articles and blogs all bemoaning the state of risk management and what we need to do to get everything right again; as if there is some elixir, or some magic wand that will put it all right.
All these blogs and articles are pounding away on the same old drum; all are documenting how badly everyone has done in managing risk and all are extolling bank boards, senior management, regulators and rating agencies to do better next time.
Where were all these authors and bloggers in the good times? Where were they in the heady days prior to the summer of 2007 when the banks and the rest of the financial industry was gaily acting if the only way forward was “up”; when the “old” economy had been declared dead as a dodo and the mantra of the “new economy” was “profits”, “bonuses” and “innovation”. Like the “old economy”, “risk” in all its forms had, by the invocation of all the new hedging and derivative strategies been declared dead too.
True there were some (all too few) who sounded dire warnings of where this was going to end – but who wants a Jonah in their midst when there is a never-ending beach party on the go?
As a professional risk management practitioner and trainer I really feel aggrieved with all the soul searching and hand wringing going on at the moment. Tell me please where all these new risk averse converts have come from? Where were they when they were really needed?
Now that the party is finally over it is time to do things properly. Risk management in the first decade of the 21st century failed miserably. The tone at the top was rotten, whether in the banks or the regulatory agencies or the risk raters themselves. And this rot permeated all the way down to the bottom of the pile.
What were the failures?
The failure to measure risk – risk models were misused, misspecified and most of all misunderstood.
The failure in training – bank boards and regulators were not adequately instructed in what “risk” really meant. Bank staff was only trained in the three P’s – Product, Performance and Profit. Issues like risk concentration, scenario planning, operational failures were only concepts that made one sound intelligent. Worst of all – risk management costs money and of course “unjustified costs” are the bane of every diligent (but not prudent) banker.
The failure to mitigate risk – without understanding risk it cannot truly be measured and without measurement it cannot be mitigated. These factors are interconnected. The one leads to the other.
Enough of this hand wringing! We all know where the blame lies. What is needed now is some courageous risk managers who will roll up their sleeves and get the job done – properly this time.
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