Security

The implementation of ISO-certified security standards at subsidiaries in Austria and abroad serves as the basis of group-wide cooperation on security issues.

To counteract the rise in the level of criminal activity, technical security measures at branch offices are being improved and staff are being trained in proper behaviour both during and after a bank robbery. Concrete measures against the increasing crime rate include live video transmission from all bank buildings to the police, technical improvements to customer service facilities in self-service foyers and the monitoring of individual branch offices by private security firms.

Business continuity management, which ensures that business operations can continue without significant restrictions even in the case of a catastrophe, represents a key aspect of information security. Specific exercises also helped to optimise crisis management capabilities. The Security Emergency Response Team (SERT) created by iT-AUSTRIA will serve, in an emergency, as a decentralised hub between BA-CA, WAVE and iT-AUSTRIA.

Even more rapid response times are necessary given the increase in the frequency of virus attacks. Additional measures were therefore implemented in order to be able to launch quick and effective countermeasures to an attack. Although up to 50,000 virus-infected e-mails are received every day, viruses have been successfully kept out of the BA-CA network. The BA-CA website was also redesigned to protect customers from so-called “phishing” attempts.