Singapore’s financial regulator raised the alarm about cyber security breaches at financial organisations after it emerged client account statements at Standard Chartered had been stolen.

Singapore’s
financial regulator raised the alarm about cyber security breaches at
financial organisations after it emerged client account statements at the private bank of UK-listed
Standard Chartered had been stolen.

The theft took place at a third-party service provider which
Standard Chartered engaged to print the statements, the Monetary Authority of
Singapore said in a statement yesterday.

A report in the Straits Times (of Singapore) said the thefts affected 647 clients at Standard Chartered Private Bank. The statements were for the the month of February this year. The publication saidthe files were found on a laptop seized from James Raj Arokiasamy,
the suspect in the middle of several website hacking incidents.

The regulator said StanChart has confirmed that “this
incident has not compromised the bank’s own IT systems or infrastructure. We
will review SCB’s investigation report and consider if regulatory action
against the bank is warranted”.

The MAS noted that the incident has come to light at a time
when, globally, financial institutions face a rising amount of threats to cyber
security.

“MAS takes a serious view of such threats and has stringent
requirements in place for FIs [financial institutions] to protect the security
of their IT systems and confidentiality of their client data. These include
regular vulnerability assessments and penetration tests. They also include
external audits of the effectiveness of their controls. These requirements
apply regardless of whether such client data are processed in-house or at third
party service providers,” the regulator said.

The regulator said the theft at StanChart is an “isolated
case” but it demonstrated the need for heightened vigilance in banks and other
institutions.