The ANZ Banking Group's head of fraud risk, group operating risk, Lawrence Cox, told the Biometrics Industry Conference in Sydney that biometric technologies provided one answer to the dearth of robust and reliable identification available in Australia. Existing forms of identification, such as driving licences, had been compromised by a lack of governance and process control, he said. This identification gap had opened the door for a raft of criminal activities that threatened to compromise individuals and businesses on several fronts.
"The client data that our businesses hold - there is big money available for the sale of that intelligence," Cox said.
He said there were instances of "broad-scale mail intercept and .... organised crime involvement in identification, cheque and card frauds," as well as fraud and misappropriation by bank customers' employees.
In addition, the financial services sector's increased reliance on technology had seen financial institutions and customers become far more susceptible to computer and eCrime, skimming, desktop publishing and identity-related fraud.
Cox added that numerous reviews had revealed that computer crime was escalating and costing billions of dollars across the globe.
He said the problems caused by in-country fraud were exacerbated by overseas organised crime syndicates which, lured by the AU$2.2 trillion in payments processed in Australia annually, recruited fraud specialists overseas and brought them here to breach financial systems. Those specialists were typically, Cox said, remunerated to an agreed percentage - up to 30 per cent - of the money stolen or goods bought by use of fraudulent cheques or credit card transactions.
The security expert said one of the weakest links in the financial services sector's security cover lay in call centres, where operators had little ability "to verify who was on the other end of the phone". The challenge response questions used by call centre employees tended to be based on information held in wallets or statements, limiting their ability to identify someone who had fraudulently gained access to either.
However, this problem could probably be alleviated through the use of enhanced voice recognition and authentication at call centres and selected automatic teller machines.
He said to date, the Australian financial services sector had only adopted biometrics in limited areas where it had control of both the environment and the number of people requiring access - such as systems and data security, building security and systems access.
He said the key issues for the sector included:
- the need for a solution to apply across a diverse range of financial services products which are accessible across distinct distribution channels;
- the refinement of solutions' accuracy rates;
- addressing consumers' fears in relation to protection and privacy; Cox said part of the issue was that "the community at large is still very naïve and unaware of just how much information relative to their circumstances is circulating".
- the need for government to develop a Whole of Government Proof of Identification process to deliver a sound base from which to build in the use of biometrics;
- the establishment of priorities and budget within organisations and;
- the need for greater coordination and cooperation across government and industries.
a governments job is to take your rights in the name of security and the people's job is to fight for the right to privacy and freedom - we just need to keep the balance or we will end up like china