Overview
- Presents the first history of computer security in finance, from the perspective of the banks
- Offers a mixture of broad overview chapters that set the scene, alongside more detailed case-study chapters
- Provides insights from unseen/unused archival material from various banks, and the London Metropolitan Archives
Part of the book series: History of Computing (HC)
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (7 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
Cyber security is the greatest risk faced by financial institutions today, a risk they have understood and managed for decades longer than is commonly understood. Ever since the major London banks purchased their first computers in the early 1960s, they have had to balance their dependence on those machines with the need to secure their operations and retain the trust of their customers.
Technological change in the second half of the 20th century prompted British banks to reevaluate their function as trusted protectors of wealth. In the City of London, the capital’s oldest area and historically its business and commerce hub, the colossal clearing banks employed newly commercialised electronic computers—the processing power of which could transform the highly clerical clearing and settlement process. What unfolded over the following three decades was a relentless modernisation drive. Revolutionising the way that banks and other financial institutions conducted business and interacted with each other and permanently altering the speed and scale at which the United Kingdom’s financial sector functioned, this rapid modernisation thrust computer security into the consciousness of bank executives and their clients alike.
Dependence on computers quickly grew, and the banks immediately realised the need to secure their new software and hardware. Focusing on the period 1960 to 1990, this book uses newly released and previously unexplored archival material to trace the origins of cyber security in the UK financial sector.
Topics and features:
- Describes how institutions managed the evolving challenge of computer security in the second half of the 20th century Demonstrates continuity in banks' views of security through the prism of confidentiality, integrity and availability, and the concept of resilience
- Presents case studies of bank collaboration on computer security through creation of payment systems like SWIFT and CHAPS Outlines the shift from focusing on physical security measures to technical network-protection measures
- Explores the relationship between banks and the UK Government as bank operations became dependent on computer and network technology
This work will be of value to students and academic researchers in the history of computing, financial history, and the history of intelligence and security, as well as the general reader interested in contemporary intelligence, cyber security, and finance.
Reviews
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Dr. Ashley Sweetman works in cyber security for a London-based global bank and holds a PhD from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Cyber and the City
Book Subtitle: Securing London’s Banks in the Computer Age
Authors: Ashley Sweetman
Series Title: History of Computing
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07933-7
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Computer Science, Computer Science (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-07932-0Published: 26 July 2022
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-07935-1Published: 26 July 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-07933-7Published: 25 July 2022
Series ISSN: 2190-6831
Series E-ISSN: 2190-684X
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VII, 230
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations
Topics: History of Computing, Computer Crime, Banking