Inside Story

How safe is your personal information on the internet?

With several recent data breaches, are governments and companies doing enough to protect our information online?

In today’s digital world, data is king. And as we move more and more of our lives online, the risk of fraud and identity theft grows ever larger.

Hundreds of billions of dollars are lost each year because of cyberattacks, and it’s something that affects us all – individuals, businesses and governments alike.

In February, hackers accessed an account held by Bangladesh’s central bank at New York’s Federal Reserve. They tried to steal almost a billion dollars – and managed to get $81m. It has been described as the biggest online theft in history.

Now, it has been revealed that they did it using SWIFT, the global financial network that banks use to transfer billions of dollars every day.

Officials from SWIFT warned customers this week that hackers are also targeting other financial institutions using their network.

Inside Story looks at the SWIFT case as well as other recent data breaches and asks, are governments and companies doing enough to protect our information online?

Presenter: Martine Dennis

Guests:

Aral Balkan – Founder of the social enterprise Ind.ie.

Mischa Dohler – Professor in Wireless Communications at King’s College London.

Jason Moon – Ethical Hacker and Networks Security Specialist.