How safe is internet banking?

bert

That was an interesting read, thanks. Sorry to hear about what happened to you, but I'm sure alot more people will be careful after reading this.

I use internet banking fairly regularly, and have not had problems yet. I probably go overboard in being careful though, I even tend to restart the PC (clear up the memory, reset any open ports) and open ONLY the browser and one browser window when I start my online banking sessions.

edit: was refering to Alias_Omega post btw.

Alias_Omega

Check this link out for news about the thing..

http://www.briansbuzz.com/w/040520/

Slimeball20

Hi Alias,

The firewall (I recommend Zone Alarm Pro) and AVG will help, but also download the MVPS Hosts file that blocks all parasitic activity and also Spyware Blaster. They are both free.

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

Make sure that you use Windows Update regularly to get all the latest security patches etc.

Sorry to hear about your experience but glad that it's all sorted now!

Michael.

lipidicman

Thanks for this. Just had a look at my hosts file and it has been interfered with. Nothing to do with banking (thankfully) but it was redirecting a load of spyware destroying sites (eg majorgeeks, lavasoft etc).

I would never fall for phishing, but I could have easily fallen victim to this!

Slimeball20

There. Not much of a slimeball am I?! :P

Alias_Omega

I have updates, and zone alarm pro.

I had gone from Win ME to Win XP as my laptop had it on it, as its much more stable. I installed XP and did not have the internet access to update the SP2. It was only when i used the net the first time, i got the sasser virus, then got rid of that, then updated. Must of crept into the system, but can come in at any time.

I forgot the name of the work, but it eats XP alive....!

chiny

I am a big fan of internet banking/savings and just about all my finances are online. Security has always been a major issue with me - I aborted a Bristol & West account as B&W gave inadequate assurances.

I do keep backup printouts at intervals - just in case I end up fighting an institution that declares they know nothing of my account - whether hackers or gremlins.

Microsoft also dropped.

--
Chiny