14 DAY TRIAL // The UK government, the Bank of England, and the GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) are discussing a law proposal that will exonerate banks from refunding online fraud victims who don't take precautionary measures to protect their bank accounts.
This is still under discussion, as The Financial Times has reported today, and consumer rights groups have already heavily criticized the newly proposed law.
Behind this new regulatory project stands the Bank of England, which, naturally, is trying to protect its interests along with those of fellow bankers. Under the current law, banks have to refund every fraud victim, regardless of whether it was the bank's or the user's fault.
Naturally, the Bank of England is trying to push for new laws that will allow it to deny reimbursement for online fraud victims if evidence surfaces that the user has been ignoring online security best practices.
A four-stage plan for letting people know their browser choice sucks
Bankers are pushing for a four-stage plan during which they'll introduce the notion of responsibility for their online users.
In the first stage, banks plan to use scanning software to detect old software like outdated browsers or antivirus programs running old virus signatures. Users will get a warning during this stage, but they'll be allowed to access the bank's service.
During stage two, banks will show the same warning, but they'll block users from accessing their services completely.
In phase three, banks also want to collaborate with ISPs and even ban the user from the Internet altogether if they have evidence that person is the victim of malware.
During the last stage of this implementation process, on top of the measures introduced in the first three phases, banks start denying refund claims if the user has suffered a financial loss after they ignored the bank's warnings.
Users might not like it, but the new law makes sense
The new proposal is treated to a lot of attention from banks, who are very careful not to anger the general public. "Bankers are nervous of being seen to be penalise customers, given the sector’s tarnished reputation following the financial crisis and the multiple scandals that have emerged in its aftermath," the Financial Times writes.
The new law is more like a PR rope-balancing act than anything else. Technically, the law proposed by the Bank of England and the GHCQ makes more sense than customers are willing to admit.
Often, the people who are affected by online fraud use old browsers or old operating systems for which countless security vulnerabilities exist, allowing attackers to take advantage of these flaws and carry out the attacks. The bank is obviously not forcing the user to employ this outdated software, so in their eyes, they should not pay for the client's carelessness.