Australian banks replace electronic keys in wake of cyber attacks

Two top Australian banks are replacing the "SecurID" electronic keys of customers as banks beef up security after a string of cyber attacks on high-profile global companies.
Citigroup Inc became the latest company and first bank to disclose a major breach, saying on Thursday that hackers had accessed data of about 200,000 bank card holders in North America.
While Citigroup insisted the breach had been limited, experts called it the largest direct attack on a major U.S. financial institution, and said it could prompt an overhaul of the banking industry's data security measures.
Australia's No.3 lender Westpac Banking Corp and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said they were replacing the electronic keys although their systems have not been compromised.
The keys issued by EMC's Ltd RSA Security division are primarily used by institutional and corporate clients. ANZ said it has 50,000 such keys with 4,000 used internally.
EMC this week offered to replace millions of the electronic keys after hackers used data stolen from its RSA division to break into Lockheed Martin's network.
Citigroup has not disclosed how the hackers accessed customer information including names, account numbers and contact information.
Internet security at other top companies has come under threat after successful raids on other firms such as Sony's PlayStation Network and Google embolden hackers.
The recent breaches have prompted calls for tougher security measures and better disclosures in cases where sensitive customer data has been compromised.
Spokesmen at Westpac and ANZ said the replacement was pre-emptive action and scrutiny of their systems has not revealed any breach.
"Although we do not believe that our customers are at risk, we have initiated a token replacement to alleviate any residual concern that our customers may have," said Westpac's general manager for online and customer service, Harry Wendt.
A spokeswoman for top lender National Australia Bank said the bank was not immediately planning to replace any electronic keys but will monitor its systems closely. An HSBC spokeswoman in Hong Kong said the bank did not use any RSA products.
The widely used electronic keys use a two-pronged approach to identify a person trying to access a computer system and are designed to thwart hackers who might use key-logging viruses by constantly generating new passwords.
The SecurID generates new strings of digits on a minute-by-minute basis that the user must enter along with a secret PIN before they can access the network.