Capital One's Web Security Criticized by Client in Lawsuit

Another bank finds itself facing a lawsuit over a takeover of a business customer's account.

Global Title Services of Vienna, Va., experienced over $200,000 in fraudulent wire transactions on June 1, 2010 with its account at Chevy Chase Bank, Brian Krebs reported Monday at krebsonsecurity.com. Another $1.8 million in wire transfers were initiated over the following week, but those were reversed.

Capital One Financial Corp. bought Chevy Chase in 2009 but did not rebrand it until September 2010. Capital One told Krebs it could not comment for his story because of the litigation.

Global Title is requesting a $500,000 judgment plus interest and attorney's fees, Krebs wrote.

Global Title alleges that Capital One did not have commercially reasonable security measures in place when the account was hijacked, since the bank required just a username and password, Krebs reported. Global Title also said its bank was aware that it was locked out of the account the day the first wires were initiated.

In similar lawsuits against banks, judges considered whether the banks met the security guidelines set by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council in 2005. The FFIEC updated its guidance this year to require added layers of security.