JP Morgan Chase breach raises concerns over detection failure

JP Morgan Chase was forced to apologise to its customers and admit that an exposure of data uncovered earlier this year continued longer and had more of a widespread effect than initially believed. Questions are now being asked with regards to how the leak could have continued to go unnoticed for as long as it did.

The institution assured  customers as to a lack of evidence of account details such as user IDs and passwords being leaked. However, with 76 million personal accounts affected, along with seven million commercial customers, the bank is a victim of one of the most successful breaches ever seen. The more worrying aspect, however, is that a prominent institution could fall foul of a prolonged incident with such widespread consequences.

Network Box USA CTO Pierluigi Stella told SCMagazine.com in an email:

“I am sure [Chase has] plenty of security. I am sure they used every trick in the books to stay safe. I am sure they take security very seriously because they are a financial institution, the largest financial institution in the US, and they know they are a target.”

Whilst larger organisations will remain the subject of large-scale attacks, the fact that that cyber criminals have the ability to tap into their systems means that accessing data from SMEs is more than achievable. The only way that businesses can protect themselves from such incidents is to recruit for cyber security jobs and counter the technology and skills possessed by hackers.