© Ina Fassbender/Reuters
Banks shouldn't compensate customers who are victims of cyber-crime because it "rewards" them for sloppy internet security, Britain's highest-ranking police officer has said.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said banks should refuse to reimburse people who fail to update anti-virus software and tighten their passwords.His remarks come days after internet security firm Webroot warned traditional computer defenses are "useless" in the face of modern cyber-attacks.Hogan-Howe compared refunding bank customers who are victims of cyber-crime to rewarding "bad behavior."
"If you are continually rewarded for bad behavior, you will probably continue to do it but, if the obverse is true, you might consider changing behavior," he told the Times.
"The system is not incentivizing you to protect yourself," Hogan-Howe said.
"If someone said to you: 'If you've not updated your software, I will give you half back', you would do it."
Hogan-Howe's comments were criticized as "misjudged" by Richard Lloyd, executive director of consumer group Which?.
"The priority should be for banks to better protect their customers, rather than trying to shift blame on to the victims of fraud," he said.
Comment: Via WKMG:
More idiotic antics of a society gone mad: