Barclays in security forum call

Barclays bank has endorsed the need for a banking industry forum to tackle Internet security issues after an embarrassing security breach forced it to shut down its online banking service earlier this week.

Barclays was forced to temporarily close down its upgraded online banking service on its second day of operation after a handful of customers became able to view other customers' account details from the banking service Web site.

Barclays reinstalled the old banking system and will re-release the new system after it has been given the all-clear following software testing.

The software failure occurred when two customers logged on simultaneously and one log-on request failed. According to Barclays, the problem was sparked by a code error in the upgraded banking application and was not due to a fault in the banking service's security architecture. The bank stressed that although customers were able to view account information they could not carry out business transactions using the other customer's details.

The glitch is deeply embarrassing for Barclays, which claims to be at the forefront of e-banking and recently outlined an ambitious three year e-business strategy.

Barclays chief information officer David Weymouth said the in-house upgraded system had been thoroughly tested. "As more people are transacting online a forum or committee may be necessary," he said.