Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) and Barclays have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to combat the threats posed to financial services firms by online criminal gangs.
Under the terms of the MoU, the UK bank and European law enforcement agency will exchange strategic information, information on trends, expertise and statistical data.
Troels Oerting, Barclays chief information security officer, says the collaboration will strengthen the bank's defences as more business and consumer transactions migrate to online channels.
"Digital adoption and the integration of technology into people’s lives is changing the way our customers and clients do business with us, but it’s set against the backdrop of new risks such as cyber attacks," he says. "Europol have long played an active role in this space so by signing this agreement we will be able to collaborate with them in the fight against cybercrime...ensuring even greater security for our customers and clients into the future.”
In July last year Barclays became the first major organisation to receive a new UK government cyber security certification for its digital banking services. This came a year after UK police arrested eight men in connection with the theft of £1.3 million by a gang which managed to take control of a Barclays Bank branch computer system.