ABN Amro is distributing new versions of its HomeNet and OfficeNet Plus service to customers following a Dutch TV broadcast which appeared to demonstrate the interception and illegal transfer of online payment orders.
Customers are to receive an intermediate version of the revised programs with additional security measures embedded within the next two weeks. With this intermediate version users can check before sending their payment orders to the bank whether the beneficiary's account number has been changed. They may also seal the order with a digital signature, attached via their calculators.
ABN Amro says it knows of no other situations in which an amount of money has been transferred to another account not presented by the user in HomeNet or OfficeNet Plus. The bank warns users not to install software from a suspicious source and not to open e-mail messages from unknown senders.
ABN Amro says it will investigate allegations made during the TV programme that it had ignored warnings from hackers that its electronic banking systems were open to abuse.
The bank is promising to guarantee all payments made over the HomeNet and OfficeNet Plus systems both now and in the future.