Wikileaks, Bank Of America And E-businesses

By Author: autor
Total Articles: 4328
Comment this article

In ongoing revelations surrounding WikiLeaks, it seems that Bank of America may be its next target. Supposedly, the information to be released is damaging enough to force a top executive to resign.

The official news media is now referring to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as a “high tech terrorist”, despite claims by those who would indemnify him from prosecution that he is not responsible for the damaging leaks that caused a cacophony of backlash against him after sensitive backroom information regarding the diplomatic relations of the US and its allies were leaked to various media outlets. Some are even calling him a beacon of free speech.

However, the negative publicity surrounding him is not likely to quiet down anytime soon considering that a major US bank is rumored to be the next target of his company. To be sure, online backing has become the rule. You would be hard pressed to find someone who actually writes or mails a check anymore to pay their bills. While no one knows exactly what information is to be shared, Bank of America is the largest bank holding company in the nation.

Worse ...
... still for Bank of America is the possibility that the inside documents will give the public a negative picture of how they view their clients. Did they openly talk about swindling them? Did they knowingly hedge their bets against their own clients? Will there be any disclosures of ugly class assumptions as we saw in the leaked State Department documents?

Having your private business information made public is no picnic, but the most worried observers may not be the bank itself, as they seem unperturbed by the threat, but Washington and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).

If the exposed insider documents show any back deals that were unfavorable to the average struggling American, or even if they show that despite having a large part in the culpability surrounding the mortgage and hedge fund mismanagementâ€some would say outright fraudâ€the bank was never seriously punished, public outrage directed at Washington might follow. Bank of America received $20 million from the federal government under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

What does the ability of cyber hackers to completely disrupt our sense of security mean for online enterprises? It remains to be seen whether the continued attacks will have a permanent effect on the psyche of users who have become used to sharing their personal and financial information with online businesses.

Will the targeted attacks reverberate around the Web and cause people to slow down their interactions with e-commerce sites if even their banks aren’t secure enough? What role will informative, damage control based SEO content have to play in the coming year to combat user insecurity?

This issue gets to the heart of what it means to conduct business in the internet age. Everyone is vulnerable in a user-generated content world. If the hackers are successful, there is no telling what level of top down effects will plague online businesses in terms of consumer confidence. It is interesting to note that WikiLeaks is now synonymous with Julian Assange, despite the fact that the information being broadcast is most likely being sourced by a banking industry insider.

Assange might not care at this point about Reputation Management Services to repair his online image, but we may well see a big production underway by Bank of America to restore its credibility.

Undoubtedly, it was only a matter of time before the changing face of the internet and the accompanying lack of privacy made their way into the private lives of corporations. Who knows, maybe the forced honesty will lead to improved, more transparent business practices. Definitely, the need for reputation management and substantive, trust-building SEO content will not see a decline in the near future.