Account holders are threatened by adverse new code

Now customers in Great Britain are to meet a new banking code developed lately by the British Bankers' Association. The code will require them to certify that they are acting with reasonable care. The same bill was adopted a year before in New Zealand.

Online subscribers who don't update their antivirus and anti-spyware software won't be able to make up for losses which occur via their online banking accounts, Computerworld UK reports.

According to a new law the customers are responsible for regular updating of their anti-virus and anti-spyware applications thus taking reasonable care. "If not, customers might be held responsible for losses on their online banking account," states Yuval Ben-Itzhak, chief technology officer at security firm Finjan.

New Zealand last year law made the accountant holders responsible for unauthorized internet banking transactions in case the latter "used a computer or device that does not have appropriate protective software and operating system installed and up-to-date, [or] failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that the protective systems, such as virus scanning, firewall, antispyware, operating system and anti-spam software on [the] computer, are up-to-date."

"We reserve the right to request access to your computer or device in order to verify that you have taken all reasonable steps to protect your computer or device and safeguard your secure information in accordance with this code," the code went on.

"If you refuse our request for access then we may refuse your claim."

Later, however, the law was reconsidered. Computerworld stated that the code allowed banks to inspect customers' computers before they assented to take responsibility for online banking scams. Besides some local banks were disapproved by their Australian parent companies especially after the Australian press censured these measures.

Banks reacted immediately. Some of them commenced reassuring the customers that their accounts won't be deprived of the service in events of online fraud and more inspections will be undertaken only in case of emergency just to figure out how the leakage occurred.