HSBC loses 2.7m customers' data in Turkey cyber-attack

13th Nov 2014 18:21

HSBC's Turkish unit revealed it lost the data of 2.7m of its customers in a cyber-attack similar to the one that hit JP Morgan Chase & Co.The attack resulted in the theft of data on cards and related bank accounts, HSBC said in a statement on Thursday, adding the breach was limited to Turkey and did not affect the accounts of its UK-based customers.Officials and security specialists have stressed the need to step up the effort to prevent cyber-crime in the global financial system and protect customers after a series of high-profile hackings.In October, JP Morgan, the US' biggest bank, revealed that 76m households were affected by a data breach, while Ebay and Home Depot have also been subject to attacks.HSBC in June appointed James Emmett chief executive officer of its Turkey operations in place of Martin Spurling, who became head of retail banking in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and said it was collaborating with the local banks regulator and the police to investigate the leak.