UniCredit Faces £2.3 Million Fine Over Data Breach
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UniCredit, the second biggest bank in Italy, has been charged €2.8 million (£2.3 million) by the nation’s data protection authority for a data breach incident in 2018.
In 2018, there was a cyber-attack on the mobile banking platform of the bank and it affected the data of more than 750,000 clients. The authority stated that the sanction disclosed recently is a reminder that banks are required to follow every necessary security, organizational, and technical measure. This is to ensure that their customers’ data are not illegally stolen.
The Authority Plans To Safeguard Customers Data
The breach was not an exception for UniCredit. In 2017, the bank revealed that the Personal financial information of 400,000 clients, who have borrowed money from the bank was compromised by illegal entities. In 2019, the bank discovered another data breach that compromised the personal data of over three million customers.
UniCredit replied that it would challenge the decision of the data protection authority. The bank stated that the situation had been promptly addressed and no bank detail was affected in the breach.
UniCredit is a global banking group with its headquarters located in Milan. It is the only Systemically significant bank in Italy and the 34th largest in the world in terms of assets. It was established in 1983 through the combination of Unicredito and Credito Italiano. Although it has a corporate identity tracing back to its establishment in 1870 as Banca di Genova.
Unicredit Aims To Solidify Its Position As A Leading Pan-European Bank
UniCredit is a pan-European bank with commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth management operations, boosting a strong presence in Eastern, Central, and Western Europe.
Through its presence in the European banking network, it offers access to top-tier services and products in 13 core markets. These markets include Russia, Austria as Bank Austria, Germany as HypoVereinsbank, Italy, and nine other Southeast and Central European countries.
Since its appearance in European Banking Supervision in late 2014, UniCredit has been designated as a Significant Institution and as a consequence is supervised directly by the European Central Bank.
In 1999, UniCredit, formally known as UniCredito Italiano, initiated its expansion into Eastern Europe, acquiring the Polish firm, Bank Pekao.
On 30 June 2002, UniCredit introduced its S3 project which connected 7 banks from its network to Credito Italiano. After, Credito Italian was rebranded into UniCredit Banca. UniCredit Banca d’lmprresa and UniCredit Private Banking were spun off from this entity in 2003.
