The BBC reported today that police in London have foiled one of the biggest attempted bank thefts in Britain.

The investigation was started last October after it was discovered that computer hackers had gained access to Sumitomo Mitsui bank's computer system in London. They managed to infiltrate the system with keylogging software that would have enabled them to track every button pressed on computer keyboards.

The Guardian also reports the story:

"The rise of keyloggers poses a real threat to companies and this may be the first time we have evidence of organised criminals using the equipment to attack a bank," Alan MacDonagh, managing director of the fraud consultancy Hibis Europe told the Financial Times.

TSYS has announced that it has signed a seven year processing agreement with ABN Amro for its Dutch consumer and commercial credit-card portfolios.

"ABN AMRO's decision to partner with TSYS is a tremendous opportunity for us and represents the achievement of a strategic goal," says Kelley Knutson, managing director for TSYS Europe. "We are committed to the European market, and have built our platform and services to provide clients like ABN AMRO with the most technologically advanced pan-European solution."

Netcraft is reporting several incidents of online banking sites being hit recently by clever cross-site phishing attacks.

One surprising facet of hosting frauds on banking sites is that banks to date have tended to be significantly slower than hosting companies to react to fraudsters using their sites. Fraudsters have benefited from the longevity of frauds hosted on banking sites as well as their plausibility.

Jeremy Wagstaff also writes about the issue on his weblog.

The US Department of Justice announced yesterday that it had closed its investigation into Western Union's exclusive contracting practices with its retail agents.