Bank pays after computer blunder

By EDDIE BOTHA

East London – US computer giant Microsoft says it will meet Nedcor this week to discuss how software programmes to which it holds the copyright were sold with 1 400 Nedcor computers to an East London computer firm.

Microsoft executive Mark Reynolds, who has just returned from a trip overseas, said at the weekend that he would definitely talk to Nedcor.

Following an investigation into the copyright dispute which revealed a major breach of bank security and client confidentiality, Mr Reynolds said his colleagues had assured him that they were satisfied with the processes that Nedcor had followed to dispose of the computers to Broker Ridge cc in 1999.

Broker Ridge’s Andre van Straaten, who bought the computers from Nedcor for R440 000, was fined R20 000 by Microsoft last year for piracy of its software programmes. After failing to claim from Nedcor R700 000 for damages and to reformat the disks, Mr Van Straaten revealed last week that the computers contained confidential banking information of thousands of Nedcor clients and other bank documents.

After a meeting between Mr Van Straaten, his attorney and Nedcor officials, the banking group said it had “secured” the data. Mr Van Straaten was only allowed to say that the matter had been resolved.

However, Nedcor sources say the banking group has made the first of two payments to Mr Van Straaten to buy back the computers with all the confidential information they contain.

It is also believed that Nedcor is planning civil action against a third party, probably an independent IT company, which the banking group had commissioned to reconfigure the computer programmes before they were sold.