£229m bank fraud foiled by password

Lord Hugh Rodley has been found guilty of an attempt to defraud Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation of £229m. He and several accomplices only failed in their attempt after they failed to correctly fill out electronic forms authorising the transfer of the funds. Passwords required to give the transfer the go-ahead were not entered in the correct boxes. The gang had managed to install rogue software on the bank's systems without detection, stealing passwords and login details of employees. Rodley, who bought his title and has previous convictions for fraud, was sentenced to eight years in jail on Thursday. "This was a close shave for the Sumitomi Mitsui bank, but I wonder how well other financial institutions would brave a similar assault on their systems?" asked Graham Cluley of Sophos.