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Cyberattack could catch Asian banks off-guard

Industry insiders express concern over banks' defences against hackers amid threat through third-party services and focus on prevention

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The volume of cybercrime and its monetary toll on the banking system are unknown because few companies would disclose they have been attacked. Photo: Reuters

Recall the last unprecedented data leak at a major Asian bank?

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Probably not. Because it was never reported to the public, nor to the customers whose personal information was swiped by cyber thieves.

Few Asian nations have mandatory disclosure rules that, like in the United States, force banks and companies to make painful admissions on cyberattacks.

So news on data breaches such as the one at JP Morgan Chase last year - the one that lifted information on 76 million households - does not break in Asia.

But that does not mean malevolent hackers have ignored Hong Kong or elsewhere in the region. Far from it, and the shortfall in spending on a public response to an attack could eventually catch Asia's banks off guard.

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"The one that banks in Asia have probably spent the least on [compared to Western counterparts] is response," said Paul O'Rourke, the lead cyber security partner at EY in the Asia-Pacific.

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