Is online banking safe?

20aday

cambermam wrote: »

Yep - and to add to this, don't ever click links in an email asking you to login and rectify an issue with an account - a bank will never (or should never) ask you to do this.

I've had phishing emails in the past (at one point they were touted as coming from the Bank of America, haha) and I can see why some people do click on the links within the email.

However poor spelling and grammar coupled with Dear Customer, is usually the give away along with the urgency to "log in now" to maintain access.

Anthorn

omnipeta wrote: »

I may be a little paranoid but after seeing various TV programmes about internet fraud I immediately cancelled my internet online banking account.
I realise that there are benefits to online banking but my question is,
Is online banking safe?

It's as safe as your computer, operating system and mobile phone. That means installing all updates to your OS and anti-virus application. Yes you do need anti-virus on your mobile phone if you use mobile banking.

If you're concerned about malware change your computer operating system to a Linux distribution and don't use your mobile phone for banking.

My most recent suspected phishing attempt was an Android app for download from a website which worked with Aqua card. I didn't get it and soon afterwards a warning message appeared on the Aqua card login screen.

So it's not only phishing emails to watch out for.

securityguy

"If you're concerned about malware change your computer operating system to a Linux distribution"

Actually, the word on the cool security street is that you should put the OS of your choice, it doesn't really matter what, into a virtual container (VMware, VirtualBox, whatever) and use that to run _just_ online banking. For extra cool, find the IP number(s) of the bank website(s) you need to access and stick a firewall on to absolutely lock matters down to only access those sites. Get that working, take a snapshot of it, and each time you access your bank restart it from the snapshot (ie, ensure that any changes that somehow were made during your banking session are discarded prior to the next one).

To me this isn't a rational response to the threat, and I can't really be bothered, but I'm a generally cautious user anyway.

anoncol

Anthorn wrote: »

It's as safe as your computer, operating system and mobile phone. That means installing all updates to your OS and anti-virus application. Yes you do need anti-virus on your mobile phone if you use mobile banking.

If you're concerned about malware change your computer operating system to a Linux distribution and don't use your mobile phone for banking.

My most recent suspected phishing attempt was an Android app for download from a website which worked with Aqua card. I didn't get it and soon afterwards a warning message appeared on the Aqua card login screen.

So it's not only phishing emails to watch out for.

You don't need av on your phone if you use Internet banking. Initially the only security vulnerability i could think of was on ios when the SSL certificates weren't correctly checked by apple.

But there are more which av wouldn't have found. Would av have even found your aqua dodgy app.

Another was when most Chinese deva downloaded dodgy developer environments instead of from apple which has spy software embedded and wasn't discovered by apple even on apps on the app store.

Anthorn

anoncol wrote: »

You don't need av on your phone if you use Internet banking. Initially the only security vulnerability i could think of was on ios when the SSL certificates weren't correctly checked by apple.

But there are more which av wouldn't have found. Would av have even found your aqua dodgy app.

Another was when most Chinese deva downloaded dodgy developer environments instead of from apple which has spy software embedded and wasn't discovered by apple even on apps on the app store.

That's at variance with just about every security advisory I've ever seen. If it's Android an anti-virus is advised because Android is widely used. The same applies to the Windows OS because that too is widely used. Not so important in for example Windows phone or the Linux OS because not much malware exists for those systems - yet!

Not all apps are delivered from the established app stores. The National Lottery Android app for example is downloaded and installed from the National Lottery website because Google has banned it from the Play Store because it's gambling: Read again my comment in my previous post related to that.

ChiefGrasscutter

The advice from Lloyds bank (to take one example) on their website re mobiles and their banking app is

" If your mobile device is compatible with anti-virus software, it’s a good idea to download some from a reputable brand."
See https://www.lloydsbank.com/online-banking/mobile-banking/mobile-security.asp

bobblebob

End of the day its as safe as the user using it. Providing you arent stupid and click on dodgy looking links, download and install things you dont know what they're its safe. And anyway all banks will refund any money taken out of your account fraudulently providing you wasnt negligent and giving away your login details

Saying all that i dont know why banks havent set up 2 step verification yet, its so easy and provides that extra layer of security

bobblebob

colsten wrote: »

TV / radio / the Press can report about all sorts of fraud, and the more dramatic they make the report, the more viewers / readers they get, and the more money they can make.

Applies to alot of things not just security online. Listen to the media you would think terrorist bombers live around every street corner, pedophiles are lurking around every corner and the world is full of nasty people. Its not the case, crime in general is going down yet the media make out its the other way. Only takes 1 incident and the media jump on it which makes it look worse than it is

securityguy

Anthorn wrote: »

That's at variance with just about every security advisory I've ever seen. If it's Android an anti-virus is advised because Android is widely used..

It's not possible, within the security model of Android, to construct anti-virus software without rooting the phone. And if you read the documentation for Android security software it is very careful to not claim to be able to detect malware. That security model is a reasonable protection against malware; not perfect, but the security applications aren't going to help.

There's a reasonable summary of the background to the issue here:

http://www.howtogeek.com/232436/android-has-a-big-security-problem-but-antivirus-apps-cant-do-much/

If you sideload applications having rooted your phone, then you need your head examining if you then also use the same device to access banking but in principle an AV application might help. But if you're using an Android phone to run apps from the Google store and haven't rooted it, then it's not just that an "AV" application doesn't help, it's that it _can't_ help.

anoncol

For the same reason they can't exist on ios and advert blocking has only just happened. It needed apple to expose the api for advert blockers to exist.

The most primitive of blocking is editing the systems hosts file which isn't even possible on ios or unrooted android.