THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- October 25, 2016- Topic 2
The data breach at 19 Indian banks that
has led to more than 32 lakh debit cards being blocked or recalled is a wake-up
call for the banking industry. While the actual number of complaints received
so far, 641, and the sum of money that appears to have been fraudulently
withdrawn, Rs.1.3 crore, are both small relative to the scale of the potential
data theft, it is disconcerting that it has taken almost six months for the
system to officially acknowledge the incidents and initiate steps to address
them. It is all the more galling since the Reserve Bank of India and its top
officials have been urging bankers for quite some time to accord urgent
priority to cyber security. A private bank appears to have been a point of
entry for the data criminals who, according to reports, may have infiltrated
using malware at ATMs operated by a third-party payment services vendor. The
National Payments Corporation of India has been coordinating investigations
into the incident, and a forensic audit is expected to reveal preliminary
findings soon. For the government and the banking regulator, much is at stake
as the two have sought to move in concert to harness the digital revolution to
advance socio-economic policy objectives. These include increasing financial
inclusion, better targeting of subsidies through the direct benefit payments
model, improving economic efficiency by lowering transaction costs, and moving
toward a cashless economy so as to reduce the circulation of black money and
curb tax evasion.
In this context, former RBI Governor
Raghuram Rajan’s comment at a recent banking technology conference is instructive:
“Payment systems are the plumbing of the financial system; so long as there is
no leakage or clogging, we are unaware of their functioning. But when they do
back up, the situation becomes catastrophic quickly.” With banks in India
having embraced technological change, the onus is on them to integrate
inter-generational legacy systems across branches, ATMs and online banking
networks into one seamless and secure whole. The Carbanak cyber gang’s
coordinated and widespread attack, which is estimated to have cost about 100
financial institutions worldwide $1 billion, revealed that today’s criminals
are using more and more sophisticated tools to access computer systems at
banks. As these may gestate for several months before manifesting themselves,
banks can ill-afford to be complacent and approach incidents such as the latest
debit card data breach with band-aid solutions. Top managements at lenders
should reappraise their cyber culture, heed warnings and alerts promptly, and
address shortcomings.
Vocabulary
Breach: an act of breaking or failing to observe a law, agreement, or code of
conduct.
Example: A breach of confidence
Synonyms: contravention, violation, infringement, infraction, transgression, neglect
Disconcerting: causing one to feel unsettled.
Example: He had a disconcerting habit of offering jobs to people he met at dinner
parties
Synonyms: unsettling, unnerving, discomfiting, disturbing, perturbing, troubling
Galling: annoying; humiliating.
Example: The loss was particularly galling
Synonyms: annoying, irritating, vexing, vexatious, infuriating, maddening
Infiltrated: (of a liquid) permeate (something) by filtration.
Example: Virtually no water infiltrates deserts such as the Sahara
Synonyms: insinuate oneself into, worm one's way into, sneak into, slip
into, get into
Concert: a musical performance given in public, typically by several performers or
of several separate compositions.
Example: Symphony concerts
Synonyms: musical performance, show, production, presentation, recital, gig
Evasion: the action of evading something.
Example: Their adroit evasion of almost all questions
Synonyms: avoidance, elusion, circumvention, dodging, sidestepping
Instructive: useful and informative.
Example: It is instructive to compare the two projects
Synonyms: informative, instructional, informational, illuminating, enlightening
Clogging: block or become blocked with an accumulation of thick, wet matter.
Example: The gutters were clogged up with leaves
Synonyms: block, obstruct, congest, jam, choke, bung
up, plug, stop up
Catastrophic: extremely unfortunate or unsuccessful.
Example: Catastrophic mismanagement of the economy
Synonyms: disastrous, calamitous, cataclysmic, apocalyptic, ruinous
Embraced: hold (someone) closely in one's arms, especially as a sign of affection.
Example: Aunt Sophie embraced her warmly
Synonyms: hug, take/hold in one's arms, hold, cuddle, clasp
to one's bosom
Sophisticated: (of a machine, system, or technique) developed to a high degree of
complexity.
Example: Highly sophisticated computer systems
Synonyms: advanced, modern, state of the art, the latest, new, up-to-the-minute
Gestate: carry a fetus in the womb from conception to birth.
Example: Rabbits gestate for approximately twenty-eight days