Thursday, July 06, 2006
Please don't do that!
Hello, good morning and welcome to Cybersurf – a weekly peek into Cyberspace. I am Steven Lang.
Yet another round of Internet banking scares hit the headlines yesterday. A newspaper dramatically told readers about an Internet client who looked on in despair as her cash disappeared before her eyes.
While we all feel sympathy for the victims of these crimes – as selfish banking clients – what we really want to know is – how safe is my money? Should I be worried? Will I lose all my savings if I use the Internet to manage my bank accounts?
Well – with the high number of armed robberies in our shopping centres – you would probably do well to avoid physical banks as much as you can. At least if they rob you on the Internet they won’t shoot you.
But how safe is internet banking really?
It is impossible to give a direct answer to the question because banks – for obvious reasons – are not keen to give out details about such crimes.
However, let me say that by and large Internet security is very good and banks are always going to great lengths to improve security – they budget millions of rands every year trying to block loopholes before the hackers find them.
There is one loophole that banks really battle with and that is the clients’ PIN – personal identity number – because it’s the only element of security that they can’t control. People write down their PIN numbers or sometimes give it to someone else who they believe will always be honest.
Please don’t do that
In the latest wave of hack attacks, it appears that the hackers managed to install key tracking software on the computers belonging to their intended victims. What this type of software can do is record every keystroke you make – including passwords and pin numbers – and then pass this private information on to hackers.
They of course, use this information to illegally access bank accounts.
All the major banks in
Standard Bank offers clients a one time password – or OTP – that is only valid for one session. It sounds effective – but a little bit time consuming. I don’t think I’ll go for that one.
The Standard Bank site establishes a secure link built according to 128 bit encryption standards and also offers free firewall and anti-virus software.
Old Mutual Bank – also has a number of security features, but its web site does not offer as much detail as some of the other financial institutions.
FNB – on the other hand, has a large section giving great detail about its so called “three layers of Internet banking security”. To find out more you can go directly to the fnb.co.za site.
The bottom line is – yes, Internet banking is safe provided you take the necessary precautions – don’t give your PIN number to anyone, and do use firewalls and anti-virus software.
I would also advise you not to do your banking at an Internet café, or any other public place where other people can use the machine you have just left.
Personally – and this is a very personal warning – don’t do your banking at work where other people have access to the network. I never do my banking through the SABC network – people can monitor what you are doing.
And with that very cautious Cybersurf, let me sign off till next week for more on the best of the web.
