Safety Concerns About Internet Banking
How safe do you feel when doing your banking online? Most people are confident in the security measures the banks have in place, but in spite of the cases of online fraud almost doubled in 2008 and experts expect this percentage to rise in the coming years.
Hackers can gain access to the files on your computer and were responsible for tracking the movements on online bankers defrauding them of as much as £52.5 million in 2008 alone.
Phishing scams online are still not being recognized as such and customers freely offer their personal information allowing fraudsters to gain access to their bank accounts and credit cards.
These phishing scams come in the form of emails that you may think are from your bank. When you enter the required information you give these hackers all the information they need to steal your money. The websites that the emails direct you to visit look almost identical to the banking websites, but they are bogus sites.
No matter how careful you are when conducting your banking online, there are still ways that you can fall victim to hackers because of the well-developed technology that they use.
One such type of technology is called keylogging in which the fraudsters can use a virus on your computer to track the keystrokes of the password that you enter. This method of gaining access to personal accounts is one of the main ways by which hackers are able to defraud you and take your money.
When using your own computer for your online banking the installation of anti-virus software and firewalls can help keep out these unwanted hackers and their technology.
That is about the extent of precautions that ordinary web users can take advantage of, but hackers have come up with ways of bypassing these preventative measures. Many people rely too heavily on the software they have installed on their computers and do not take extra steps to ensure their safety online.
According to research conducted by Which? on the online security of Halifax and Abbey banking services, it has been found that customers of these financial institutions are most at risk of being defrauded.
Barclays, on the other hand, has one of the best controls in place for the protection of the customers’ passwords. The research showed that both Halifax and Abbey did have security loopholes that exposed customers’ passwords to the keylogging technology.
Barclays’ customers use a PINentry system so that each time you sign on to your online account, the system generates a random password for you. It is also requires you to provide more login information than other banks require on their site.
Some financial institutions have also instituted the practice of a drop-down menu for their customers to use when signing onto their accounts.
Which? did focus on the security measures available online to banking customers and did not conduct any research on the behind the scenes security efforts carried out at the various banks it included in its study.
The editor of this company, Sarah Kidner, says, “Banks may say it’s the hidden security measures that count, but to have confidence in an online account, customers need to see security in place.”
Maybe it is time to take a good look at just how safe your bank is when it comes to online banking.
I’ve been using internet banking for nearly 10 years now and, touch wood, I’ve never had a single problem. I think it’s just a case of being sensible by having anti-virus and anti-spyware software installed and ignoring any email claiming to be from the bank. It’s funny how many accounts some people think I have – if you were to look at my inbox, you’d think I had about 25 different accounts!!