With great surprise we read that Piraeus Bank was 'hit' by hackers and that it concealed it.
We definitely deny this malevolent piece of news, accompanied by misleading images, reproduced and transmitted carelessly and anonymously on the internet. According to the international terminology, hacker is the one who 'penetrates without authorization, illegally to computer systems and investigates, reads and copies part of their files'. We forthright deny such malevolent press releases that make use of the term hacker in a misleading way, showing as a piece of evidence images from the Bank's systems manuals of use, some of them not being used for many years now being accessible to everyone. Piraeus Bank banking information systems were never trespassed and their security, guaranteeing transactions security, is defined by international rules and systems' safety practices.
It is stressed that the Bank's Information Technology Division was certified in 2009 with ISO 27001 (Information Systems Management Security).
We hope that this announcement shall not only serve as a disclaimer but shall give the impetus to the competent Authorities to investigate such malevolent publications.
Athens, February 12, 2010