Banks are gearing up for a big fight with retailers over who covers the cost of cyber attacks after paying most of the bill for breaches that they blamed on retailers’ own security deficiencies.
In a rare show of unity, industry bodies that represent banks are banding together to urge lawmakers to introduce legislation that would force retailers to pay for the clean-up themselves during the new session of Congress next year.
The tussle between the two sectors comes as cyber attacks become an increasingly common problem for companies and highlights the difficulties in deciding who is responsible for costs. Attacks on retailers Home Depot and Target, for example, affected almost 100m credit cards in the past year.