Is mobile banking more secure than desktop banking?

justaquestion

Hi folks,

I have always avoided mobile banking from my phone because I thought that online banking on a desktop might be more secure (I do use a separate windows installation for banking only and no general surfing)

I have an android phone and in the past have read reports of Google Playstore apps containing trojans that kind of thing, so I have avoided banking from my phone for this reason.

I now have been told by my bank that the mobile app is well encrypted and even if there was malware on phone, this would not affect the security of the banking app, which I find a little hard to believe.

Am I totally wrong and the bank is right?

Thanks.

arciere

The website is as encrypted as is the app, so no big difference between the two.

dan958

The connection is encrypted, which means that someone cannot sniff the data packets and get all your details. this is why you should never log into a website that doesnt offer SSL on an open network (such as a public wifi), all the login details are just sent in plain text and anyone else on the network can easily get your password by just sniffing the packets.

A wired connection will always be more secure than wifi, just to the nature of it - but Wi-Fi is still perfectly secure when logging into encryped apps/websites. (and this is just for wired vs wifi, not pc vs mobile)

Getting malware on your device is a totally different matter. If you get something like a keylogger on your device that just records all keystrokes, someone will be able to get all your login details. I have never run into a keylogger on a phone before, they probably do exist though.

AndyPix

Banking on a mobile is more secure than using a desktop.


Firstly, the chances of your device being compromised are far far less than on a computer.
And secondly, on my iPhone anyway, I need a thumb print to access it - not sure about your android.


Ignore all the scaremongering about malware on mobile devices.
Viruses in the common sense don't exist on mobile phones.


Yes there have been apps on the play store that have unwanted behaviour, (like sending sms in the background etc) but by the very nature of the operating system, they cant interfere with other apps on the device or even see what the other apps are doing - they run entirely in their own memory space


The bank is right this time


Edit to add caveat : if your android phone is rooted then it is open to the same risks as a desktop computer, but if it isn't then all of the above applies

dan958

Also, if your bank lets you set up 2 factor authentication - please do this! (and do this on any other websites/servies that allow for 2fa)

J_B

I just started using the Nat West app on my Android phone because ...


On my Laptop ....

Open Nat West website
Type in 8 numbers
type in two of my four numbers
type in three of my eight character password
wait for a text
type in the numbers from the text
Job done


On my phone ...
Open Nat West app
type in six digit passcode
Job done


:eek:

neilmcl

J_B wrote: »

On my phone ...
Open Nat West app
type in six digit passcode
Job done


:eek:

Or:

Open Natwest app,
Press finger on fingerprint reader
Job done

Frozen_up_north

In the December 2019 Money Which?, there is a review of bank web security and also app security.

FWIW, they rate the NatWest web access highly. By comparison their app made it too easy to add a new payee.

They did warn about accessing banking via open WiFi, although using a VPN should sort that.

Xbigman

I agree that at the moment smartphones are safer than PC's on a technical level. On the other hand I've never left my desktop on a bus or had it pickpocketed or stolen whilst being mugged. Even if you smartphone is lost it should still be pretty secure if properly set up, just a PITA to sort out.



Darren

arciere

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

They did warn about accessing banking via open WiFi, although using a VPN should sort that.

Why would that be a problem? If you (the bank) are saying that, I understand that you are relying on WiFi encryption rather than your own encryption.

Frozen_up_north

arciere wrote: »

Why would that be a problem? If you (the bank) are saying that, I understand that you are relying on WiFi encryption rather than your own encryption.

It's not me saying that, I am quoting from the Which? report.


Personally, I generally use a VPN and always use one with free WiFi on the rare occasions where I have no mobile coverage.