Keeping bank accounts safe from "Zeus" Trojan attacks

augbede

We have 8 (?) days to secure our computers against attack by the Russian "Zeus" Trojan virus. I am concerned about the safety of my money in bank accounts if my old computer is attacked. Some banks have a get-out clause in their conditions to the effect that they do not have to reimburse customers for money stolen from accounts if the customers’ computer does not have the latest operating system or the best snti-virus software.
I do not want to buy Windows 8.1 and who knows how good my anti-virus software is. So what I’m looking for is a bank who will guarantee the security of my money regardless of the state of my computer.
It seems that Santander won’t and that Halifax will guarantee (though I’ve yet to read the small print)
Does anybody know of any Banks that will give the guarantee I’m seeking.
7 June 14

innovate

You don't have to fear Zeus if you have a firewall, use up-to-date AV software, don't ever click on links in emails from people you don't know, and don't download stuff from spurious websites. Just common sense use of the Internet will keep you safe but if you want to be worried, change your passwords.

No bank will guarantee your money regardless of the state of your computer, and/or how you choose to use it.

matttye

The fear mongering by the media is working I see...

G_M

augbede wrote: »

We have 8 (?) days to secure our computers against attack by the Russian "Zeus" Trojan virus. I am concerned about the safety of my money in bank accounts if my old computer is attacked. Some banks have a get-out clause in their conditions to the effect that they do not have to reimburse customers for money stolen from accounts if the customers’ computer does not have the latest operating system or the best snti-virus software.
I do not want to buy Windows 8.1 and who knows how good my anti-virus software is. So what I’m looking for is a bank who will guarantee the security of my money regardless of the state of my computer.
It seems that Santander won’t and that Halifax will guarantee (though I’ve yet to read the small print)
Does anybody know of any Banks that will give the guarantee I’m seeking.
7 June 14

8 days? The risk of attack exists now, will continue to exist for the next 8 days, and will continue thereafter.

No bank will give a 100% guarantee, but most will re-imburse you if you have taken sensible precautions.

What AV software do you use? Do you update it regularly?
What firewall do you have?

And finally, what operating system? If you are really worried, either stop using internet banking, or update your OS.

augbede

Keeping bank accounts safe from "Zeus" Trojan attack

So you don’t believe me. For your information this is what I've gleaned from the terms and conditions 3 banks.
　
HALIFAX
Online Guarantee

You’re safe online with us

We do all we can to protect you online. Even in the unlikely event of fraud, we promise you won't lose out.
As a Halifax Online Banking customer, you automatically benefit from our online fraud guarantee:
If you use our online service and become a victim of online fraud, we guarantee you won't lose any money from your account and will always be reimbursed in full.
SANTANDER
You are responsible for obtaining and maintaining Your Equipment and for ensuring that it is compatible with the particular Service
We have no responsibility or liability with respect to Your Equipment. We shall not be liable for any loss or damage You suffer if Your Equipment is infected by a virus or corrupt file unless such loss or damage is the direct result of Our negligence or deliberate default.
　
LLOYDS
Our online and mobile banking guarantee
We guarantee to refund your money in the unlikely event you experience fraud with our Internet Banking service - as long as you've been careful, for example, by taking reasonable steps to keep your security information safe. We protect you with safeguards that meet Industry Standards.
　
　
I am sure that you will agree that there is a difference and research would be worthwhile. I would welcome any information on other banks that forum members could supply.
Further it would be helpful if MSE were to indicate the security of online banking when comparing banks.

[Deleted User]

A few years ago when I didn't have my own computer I used to use the ones in the library. Their T&Cs sate that you can use them for online purchases, but they won't be liable for any losses.

That begs the question as to whether you could find yourself with the bank blaming the librarys negligent management of the system, and the library referring you to the T&Cs.

I emailed HSBC to see whether their online fraud guarantee still applies in that scenario, but all I got was endless slippery evasive responses that avoided answering the question. When I sent the same email to Lloyds, I got a helpful reply first time saying that it was OK as long as the library uses a firewall.

Archi_Bald

No need to shout.

These sort of terms have been there ever since online banking existed, and will be there long after Zeus has passed.

Hominu

Nothing to keep you 100% safe. If you can access the internet, hackers can access your bank accounts, view your webcam, read your emails and browse through your private files.

However, you can make it substantially more difficult for them. Use a decent virus checker such as AVast Free or AVG Free, use a decent second stage of detection such as MalwareBytes. Don't be clicking on links that will "Clean" or "Speed up" your PC. Don't try to watch pirated movies or TV expisodes online unless you can detect fake flash players (stay to popular websites), etc. Ignore emails from the Police about your watching !!!!!! or suchlike, ignore emails from the tax man, etc. Close your blinds, dim the lights and check over your shoulder before signing into Online banking, preferably with a different browser than normal browser traffic. Don't use a public Wifi and don't allow strangers onto your Wifi.

Crater

Personal Windows XP users have been warned that Microsoft are no longer issuing security updates for that OS after April 2014. My husband said, that's it, update, as XP will become more and more vulnerable. We have only gone to Windows 7 but it is still supported by Microsoft.

I notice that Santander does offer a free security pack for their online banking. If you are using Santander and are not happy with their terms, maybe you should look into this. I don't know anything about it other than their advert for it on their online banking page. Surely it must be harder for them to claim negligence if you are using their own security pack (but you still have to do your own security as well, it does not claim to be a substitute, it says it "works with your antivirus".

thenudeone

There is never a 100% guarantee

Most antivirus and firewall providers (including good free ones such as Avast and Zonealarm) will still be issuing updates for XP versions for years to come, and so will Firefox and Google Chrome browsers.

The most dangerous browser for an XP now is Internet Explorer, because Microsoft won't issue any more updates.

As long as you don't use IE, and have up to date virus and firewall installed, you should be pretty safe even on an XP PC.

fwor

If you want a high degree of security, you can use a USB pendrive with its own operating system on. If you boot the PC from this and ~only~ use it for online banking you can be pretty much 100% sure that you won't be compromised, as it doesn't use any of the data on the PC's hard drive. It will happily work on - for example - a PC with Windows installed. Neither Windows nor the USB-based OS should interfere with one another.

An example is Tails. Although the main purpose of Tails is for privacy, it should also (when fully developed and debugged) be highly secure, as it's based on Debian which is not vulnerable to Windows exploits (i.e. it should not be vulnerable to most of the exploits in existence).

A simpler solution would be a USB bootable version of something like Ubuntu, which is almost trivial to create.