High noon showdown in Texas

It's no secret that cyber-thieves have identified small companies and their bank partners as prime targets. The result for tiny PlainsCapital bank in Texas has been something of a PR fiasco.

It started when the login credentials of its customer Hillary Machinery of Plano were somehow compromised. That login was used to steal $800,000, about $200,000 of which remains unaccounted for. The Texas bank took the odd step of suing the customer, seeking some sort of court statement that its online protections were reasonable. Hillary, which says that it merely asked for its money back and got sued, is not satisfied and a bit miffed. They have countersued the bank, noting the lack of multi-factor authentication and the rise of malware, which surely the bank should have been vigilante against.

The bank says there was never a cyber attack; it says the company did not protect its login. This might be something of a wake up call for other small banks. There will be more such suits coming. Banks will be on the front line of blame. The town of Poughkeepsie, NY is not happy with TD Bank after thieves were able to transfer $378,000 to accounts in the Ukraine. 

For more:
- here's a ComputerWorld article

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