Online bankng security

littlemoney

I am considering opeing an online account. I am rather worried about the security aspects.I have read that it is possible for people to hack into your computer when you are online and determin what keys you are pressing and then acces your account. I have avast free virus checker, windows firewall and zone alarm. I also scan weekly with windows defender. My system is windows XP with service pack 3 and all windows updates are installed

I am not very IT literate and want to have good protection. Am I safe with what I have installed or do I need soemthing else.

Advice would be appreciated please. I don't want to waste money on security I don't need but I can't afford to loose money from any accounts I open and I am rather worried about this.

Naf

The bank's end is extremely secure, as is the connection you make to their servers. VERY secure.
You seem to be aware that the biggest security danger lies at your end. Usually it comes about by users ineptitude and errors; following links to online banking for example, or not having sufficient security against viruses and programs which send on details of your usage to third parties.
I would suggest that your existing routine is more than sufficient to protect you against these threats, with a couple of additions.
1. Never follow any link to your online banking log in, or even to your bank's page. Ideally do not even set up a bookmark or home page to it on your system. Always type it in yourself from scratch.
2. When accessing the service always look for the address bar changing to 'https', and the padlock along your status bar at the bottom.
3. Keep your online log in details a secret and personal as you would your PIN number - don't even tell it to your bank.
4. If in any doubt about an email you receive claiming to be from your bank, ensure you do not do anything it says, contact your bank exactly as you normally would (phone or in branch) and verify its content before acting on it in any way.
5. If your log on ever fails unexpectedly and you know for certain you entered details correctly, contact the bank immediately, have your log on suspended and get new details. (I myself was once caught out by the very tactic this will guard against - fortunately not with online banking though)

All things I suspect you were already aware of and would have done anyway.

masonic

Probably the biggest reassurance when operating an online savings account is that with most accounts it is only possible to transfer money out to a single destination account that you specify when setting up the account.

MoneySaverLog

You'll probably find that having two firewalls installed, windows firewall and zone alarm will cause conflicts. You're best to use one or the other, preferably zone alarm as I don't care much for micro$ofts free firewall.

I personally prefer Bit Defender Total Security 2012 myself.

[Deleted User]

littlemoney wrote: »

I am considering opeing an online account. I am rather worried about the security aspects.I have read that it is possible for people to hack into your computer when you are online and determin what keys you are pressing and then acces your account. I have avast free virus checker, windows firewall and zone alarm. I also scan weekly with windows defender. My system is windows XP with service pack 3 and all windows updates are installed

This is more suited to the Techie forum but for what it's worth my views are that Windows Firewall is perfectly fine. You'll also more than likely have a hardware firewall in your router so I'd ditch ZoneAlarm.

Avast is fine, comparable with my preferred choice of Avira.

I'd also ditch Windows Defender and install Malwarebytes. All options outlined here are free.

alanq

In addition to the above most banks recommend installing Trusteer's Rapport.
http://www.trusteer.com/product/trusteer-rapport

erdd2

I have used internet banking since its release, have little pc protection and incurred no problems to date (ouch wood!) ....the banks are constantly updating security and although can appear cumbersome...the methods are intended to protect us from fraud.

luci

Yes I would ditch ZoneAlarm, keep the Windows firewall and install Malwarebytes which you should update an run weekly or when you have problems with your pc.

I_luv_cats

You can use an 'onscreen' keyboard that will avoid keystrokes.

What about cutting and pasting part of passwords.

Jim431

Good advise so far...

The main threat I believe is from spyware & trogans getting onto you computer and stealing your logon information.
One of the best ways to check whether or not your security works is with a firewall leak test.

A number of different testers are at pcflank.com/index.htm
The "exploits" test will have a go at your firewall.

To check the outgoing is blocked you will need to download and then run a testers from

pcflank.com/pcflankleaktest.htm
personalfirewall.comodo.com/onlinetest.html

Try different tests to confirm your setup is safe.

I was horified when I checked the Windows 7 built in firewall and Zone Alarm. Incoming was OK but outgoing leaked like a sieve. I now use COMODO CIS (Firewall and program Defense) against attack.

Let us know the results if you try the tests.

Jim

ps: as a new user this forum doesn't allow me to post active links. So you may need to add www to the first two links to get em working or put it into Google.

[Deleted User]

The biggest defence you have is common sense