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Borrowers Database Gets Bigger and More Expensive
The security services of a number of large banks that provide consumer credit began internal investigations yesterday to determine the source of unprecedented leaks that led to the creation of an illegal database of borrowers. A number of bankers have expressed doubts about the accuracy of the information in that database. Nevertheless, that database grew from 3 million records to more than 4 million in one day and its price more than doubled.
The investigation was begun after a database concerning recipients of bank credit appeared on the market of illegal databases. Its size, more than 3 million entries, was unprecedented. Although only Rosbank would officially confirm for Kommersant that an investigation was taking place, Kommersant has obtained information indicating that all of the banks whose information was found in the illegal database – Russian Standard, Home Credit and Finance Bank and Impexbank among them – have begun investigations. One bank who spoke to the newspaper said that some banks whose data was not compromised are conducting investigations as well.
Traders in illegal informational products reacted quickly to the bank's actions, doubling the cost of the database overnight to 4000 rubles. One seller, whom Kommersant contacted through a telephone number in an Internet announcement, said that the database includes information that was fresh as of November of this year and that its size had grown to over 4 million entries. One banker noted that the speed with which the database was expanded casts doubt on its reliability.
Early results of banks' investigations indicate that suspicions about the reliability of the information in the database are well-founded. A source at Russian Standard Bank said that much of the information it contained on that bank's borrowers is “unreliable.” A source at another bank mentioned that the database contains information on borrowers from banks called E-burg and KM Bank, of which the Central Bank of Russia has no record. Unofficially, a number of bankers have confirmed that much of the information in the database is accurate, however.
Members of the Russian State Duma have taken an interest in the illegal information. Speaker of the Duma Boris Gryzlov said that a working group has been formed by the Committees on Security and on Financial Markets and Credit Organizations to examine the case. The Interior Ministry's K Department told Kommersant that the “the role of the Interior Ministry in information security cases is secondary” and that the FSB handles such cases. The FSB declined to comment on the matter yesterday.
www.commersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 13, 2006
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