Security in Commonwealth Bank

This paper discusses the security system in Commonwealth Bank, identifies security vulnerabilities, and proposes a security policy to mitigate threats. The paper evaluates the condition of the security system in the Commonwealth Bank and makes recommendations for the improvement and modification of the overall security system of the bank. The proposed security policy is dedicated to the maintenance of the security of the technical systems of the organization. Ensuring the security of the technical functions in the organization will help to decrease the possibility of the cyber crime and the other security threats regarding the breaching of the data.

Running head: SECURITY IN COMMONWEALTH BANK
SECURITY IN COMMONWEALTH BANK
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Executive Summery
Maintaining the security in the banking system is an important thing for the banking
organization. Commonwealth Bank of Australia is one of the oldest and famous name in the
banking industry of Australia The security regarding the operation of this bank is an important
factor as the bank has significant number of customers and the data handled by them are
confidential and sensitive. The paper revolves around the discussion regarding the security
system in the commonwealth Bank. The security vulnerabilities in the organizations are
identified in a specific manner Apart from that the security policies has been discussed in order
to mitigate the threats in the organization.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Reference.........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Commonwealth Bank of Australia is the one of the prominent organization in the banking
sector. Commonwealth Bank provides several of banking services which includes retail and
investment banking (Edirisuriya, Gunasekarage & Dempsey 2015, p.63-87). There are many
internal operations in the banking sector (McIlroy 2017). The main concern regarding the
banking operation is maintaining the security in the processing of the services (Bradford
2016,p.20). The operations in the banking sector deals with the organizational and the users’ data
which are confidential in nature (Bean & Irvine 2015,p.602-619). Breaching of the data can lead
to the security threats for both the organizations and the users (Edirisuriya, Gunasekarage &
Dempsey 2015, p.63-87). The main objective of this paper is to discuss the security systems in
the Commonwealth bank. Apart from that the security vulnerabilities are identified in the
organization. The various security those are applicable for the mitigation of those vulnerabilities
has been discussed in this paper (Gontarczyk, McMillan & Pavlovski 2015,p.40-45). The main
objective of this paper is to evaluate the condition of the security system in the commonwealth
Bank and make the recommendations for the improvement and the modification of the overall
security system of the bank.
Discussion
The functioning of the Commonwealth Bank includes both retail banking and investment
banking. In case of retail banking the bank has to deal with the consumer data. In case of
investment banking the organization has to deal with the data of the other organization. The
handling of the data is needed to be done in a proper way so that it can mitigate the possibility of
data breaching. There are several systems for handling cash (Edirisuriya, Gunasekarage &
Dempsey 2015, p.63-87). The bank has ATMs where the users can withdraw the cash from the
ATMs using PIN number and other personal details (Schlagwein, Thorogood & Willcocks
2014,p.13). In that case the security system in ATMs are needed to be secured so that the
personal information of the users can be handled in a secured way (Ramsel 2018,p.1). Apart
from that the confidential information regarding the organization is needed to be kept secured
(Apergis & Cooray 2015, p.155-172). The bank is currently using the cloud storage for the

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storing of the data. The model of the cloud is hybrid model. Partial data are stores in the public
cloud, on the other hand the confidential data are stored in the private cloud (Edirisuriya,
Gunasekarage & Dempsey 2015, p.63-87). The security of the private cloud is handled by the
organization. On the other hand the security of the public cloud is handled b the third party cloud
provider. The hybrid cloud system provides better security in the organization.
Finding the vulnerabilities in the security of the organization:
The security and the safety of the information and the data in the bank are good.
However, there are some of the security vulnerabilities those have been detected during the
current business situation. The systems used in the bank and respective branches are not up-to-
date(Gontarczyk, McMillan & Pavlovski 2015). Apart from that the update of the anti virus
software is need (Abbott & Cohen 2014,p. 432-454). In recent years the some branches of the
Commonwealth Bank have faced the cyber attack. As a result those branches have been faced the
breaching of the data (Edirisuriya, Gunasekarage & Dempsey 2015, p.63-87). The attack in the
security system of the organizational is hampering the goodwill of the company. Apart from that
the cyber attackers in the systems of the bank is hampering the working condition of the system .
this also causes the slow down of the server which leads to the problem in the transition of the
money. Another security vulnerability can be occurred from the technical fault of the system
(Nurse 2016). This banking organization has faced the loss of the data due to the technical fault
in earlier days. Apart from that the organization has been highlighted for some of the
controversial issues regarding the maintenance of the security of the consumers and the
organization.
Research and development of the strategic security policy for the organization:
In order to implement the security policy in the organization the involvement of the
stakeholders are needed to be concerned (Edirisuriya, Gunasekarage & Dempsey 2015, p.63-
87). The main objective of the proposed security policy is to enhance the strength of the existing
security policy of the Commonwealth Bank along with maintaining the user friendliness of the
system.

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The main stakeholders of the bank are the users and the consumers of the services
provided by the bank. The security is needed to be provided in the daily functioning for getting
the services from the bank (Bughin & Van Zeebroeck 2017,p.80-86). The bank has associated
organizations as the stakeholders from the business aspects. In order to maintain the security the
confidentiality of the data along with the flow of communication between the Commonwealth
Bank and other associate stakeholders are needed to be secured (Edirisuriya, Gunasekarage &
Dempsey 2015, p.63-87). The stored data in the hybrid cloud model is needed to be secured so
that the data breaching can be resolved.
Existing security policy of the organization:
The bank has various existing policies for ensuring the security of the stakeholders and
the operations regarding the services provided by the bank (Gontarczyk, McMillan & Pavlovski
2015,p.38-45). Some of the notable policies regarding the enhancement of the security are
stakeholder engagement, group whistleblowing policy, anti-money laundering policy and
managing fraud (Edirisuriya, Gunasekarage & Dempsey 2015, p.63-87). All of these existing
policies will help to maintain the quality of the services provided by the bank.
However, it has been found out that there is no policy for the bank to ensure the securities
against the vulnerabilities regarding the technical fault and the prevention of the cyber attack
(Edirisuriya, Gunasekarage & Dempsey 2015, p.63-87). This can become a major flaw for the
bank as the ensuring the security in the transaction of the money and the operation of the
technical systems are important for the enhancement of the overall security of the organization.
The proposed security policy for the organization:
Currently the organization have the security policies and the engagement of the
stakeholders which are important for ensuring the operational and the business security of the
organization (Edirisuriya, Gunasekarage & Dempsey 2015, p.63-87). However, there is no
security policy regrading the safety of the technical aspects of the operations of the banking
system. In this case, the implementation of the new security policy can be proposed which will
dedicatedly serve ensuring the security of the systems in the organization. This policy will ensure
the security in the transaction (Gontarczyk, McMillan & Pavlovski 2015,p.38-45). The secured
payment gateway can be implemented for the online payment using the credit or debit card of the

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Commonwealth Bank (Edirisuriya, Gunasekarage & Dempsey 2015, p.63-87). Apart from that
the evaluation of the security of the stored information in private cloud is needed to be evaluated
(Gontarczyk, McMillan & Pavlovski 2015,p.38-45). Apart from that proper negotiation can be
done with the third party cloud service provider regarding the security of the stored data in public
cloud. These steps will ensure the security of the data stored in the hybrid cloud model adopted
by the bank (Edirisuriya, Gunasekarage & Dempsey 2015, p.63-87). Apart from that the ATM
machines of the banks are needed to be secured so that the data breaching can be prevented from
the ATM machines (Edirisuriya, Gunasekarage & Dempsey 2015, p.63-87). This will mitigate
the possibility of the violation of the data security regarding the personal information of the user.
Mitigation of the threats and the vulnerabilities based on the proposed security system:
The proposed security system is concerned about the enhancement of the security system
from the technical aspects. In the security policy certain objectives have been proposed for
ensuring the functional security of the Commonwealth Bank. It has been found out that there are
various safety and the security policies in the bank those are capable for the safety of the
business (Edirisuriya, Gunasekarage & Dempsey 2015, p.63-87). However, there is no security
policy ensuring the security of the technical aspects of the banking business of the
Commonwealth Bank. In order to merge the security gap in the organization a security policy has
been proposed in order to ensure the technical security of the doing business of the bank. The
proposed security will ensure that the ATMs of the Commonwealth Bank are secured enough for
the withdrawal of the money (Sathye 2015,p.1). The online transaction can be made through the
secured payment gateway and the organization can prevent any kind of cyber threats and the
technical faults. Apart from that the upgrade of the systems in the organization can be carried out
so that the systems can contain current security patches. This will mitigate the chances of the
cyber crime. Apart from that the use of the firewall in the system will ensure the restriction of the
unnecessary traffics in the network (Edirisuriya, Gunasekarage & Dempsey 2015, p.63-87).
This will ensure that network of the bank is secured. Apart from that the proposed security policy
will ensure the data stored in the cloud is safe and secured.
Conclusion
The discussion has been made regarding the security vulnerabilities of the
commonwealth bank. The objective of the paper has been fulfilled through the detailed

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discussion of the existing security system and policies in the organization. Apart from that the
identification of the gap in the security system has been made in this paper. Based on the
identified gap the solution of to mitigate the vulnerabilities has been proposed. The se3curity
policy is proposed which is dedicated to the maintenance of the security of the technical systems
of the organization. Ensuring the security of the technical functions in the organization will help
to decrease the possibility of the cyber crime and the other security threats regarding the
breaching of the data. The paper has proposed the security policy that will ensure the security of
the commonwealth bank along with that it will ensure that the whole system will deliver the
result or outcome which is user friendly. It is expected that the proposed system in the paper will
bring the flexibility of the operations of the banking system and will maintain the data security.

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Bean, A. & Irvine, H., 2015. Derivatives disclosure in corporate annual reports: bank analysts'
perceptions of usefulness. Accounting and Business Research, 45(5), pp.602-619.
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