NAB executive: “We are immersed in an asymmetric war”
Chris Sheehan, general manager of group investigations at National Australia Bank, reveals the cybersecurity challenges facing Australia’s big four banks in a candid interview with the ABC.
National Australia Bank’s Chris Sheehan has said: “All banks are being attacked all the time”, calling the current state of the cybersecurity landscape something akin to an “asymmetric war”.
Sheehan made the alarming comments during an interview on the ABC show. The world today program early today, July 1st.
“The entire community is at risk,” Sheehan said.
“We are involved in an asymmetric war day by day.”
Speaking about the variety of threats, Sheehan said they ranged from simple hackers on a single laptop to transnational operations.
“From, colloquially speaking, Larry the loser, in the basement of his house, who is playing a little on the laptop and trying to steal money from people or hack a system, to highly sophisticated, ruthless and resilient transnational companies. “Organized crime groups are driving 90 per cent of scams affecting Australian victims,” Sheehan said.
Sheehan said that at the top of the threat pyramid are threat actors backed by nation-states, and again stated that banks were in a constant state of “asymmetric warfare.”
Sheehan then highlighted the resources being used to combat scams and fraud.
“We have a call center and operations team focused on fraud and scams that has about 350 to 400 people; they are on the phone and available to our clients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year,” Sheehan said. The world today.
Sheehan then reminded customers to watch for “red flags” of a scam.
“If it looks or sounds too good to be true, or if someone puts pressure on you saying you’ll miss out on something or face a penalty if you don’t make that payment, they’re huge. red flags,” Sheehan said.
“If the story they’re giving you, whether via text, email, or whatever, contains any of those elements, don’t hit submit when making a payment; run a mile.”
Australians lost $2.7 billion due to scams in 2023, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
If you believe you have been a victim of a scam, report it immediately to your bank or cardholder and notify www.scamwatch.gov.au.
