52% of businesses operating in the field of online financial transactions paid compensation to their customers who fell victim to electronic fraud, according to a new survey conducted in 2014 by B2B International and Kaspersky Lab.
As the study shows, most compensation was awarded without any substantial investigation into the circumstances surrounding these events.
The survey also notes that almost a third of companies believe that the costs arising from digital threats are lower than the cost of protection.
The research concludes that several organizations active in the online payments sector are prepared to accept the additional costs resulting from digital attacks.
Representatives of financial companies and employees of online stores who participated in the survey stated with certainty, at a rate of 28% and 32% respectively, that the total losses from digital crime, including compensation for stolen money, do not exceed the cost of installing security solutions.
At the same time, only 19% of financial companies and 7% of online stores that participated in the survey consider that the costs associated with customer compensation are among the three most serious consequences of digital fraud.
At the same time, according to Kaspersky Security Network, almost 4 million users of Kaspersky Lab products faced “financial” malware that tried to steal their money in 2013 (an 18.6% increase compared to 2012). In December 2013, several banks in North America suffered a total loss of more than $200 million due to the leakage of bank card details and personal data of their customers. However, the total losses are likely higher.
Obviously, the continued growth of digital crime will create a situation in which the damages that companies will be asked to pay will exceed both the costs of protecting transactions and the budgets for damages.
“In addition to the need to set aside funds from their budgets to compensate customers, financial companies will also have to cover the costs associated with handling customer complaints. Most importantly, even if the money is returned to victims quickly, customers will likely be very skeptical about using services again that cannot guarantee that their online accounts are safe. In general, we believe that preventing losses is clearly better than compensation,” commented Ross Hogan, Head of Fraud Prevention at Kaspersky Lab.
“Custom solutions designed to protect online transactions, such as the Kaspersky Fraud Prevention platform, can reduce the risk of online fraud to a minimum. This means that funds that have been tied up for compensation can be freed up and used to grow the business,” he added.
Source: kathimerini.gr
