Internet banking - staying safe online01 March 2006
The UK's "big four" banks announced record combined profits last week, in part due to the increased uptake of internet banking among consumers. But at this year's RSA Conference, the global convention for internet security providers, leading professionals highlighted the risks associated with conducting finances online.
Alex Shipp, senior antivirus technologist for MessageLabs, explained that a new breed of virtual criminals had emerged, and they were becoming increasingly patient and organised in their methods. "We have recently seen a move away from stealing username and passwords," he said. Instead, cyber-thieves are employing trojan horse programmes that can be downloaded inadvertently by clicking on links contained within emails. The trojan remains undetected on a consumer's PC until they access their bank account, and "then just transfers the money out".
Mr Shipp added that it was not only these bank-stealing trojans that were becoming popular, with remote control codes and phishing scams also widely used. BT Business Email can protect consumers from many financial scams by filtering filtering unsolicited email
Continuous struggle
Recent research by the Home Office into the growing threat of identity theft in the UK found that one in ten people would readily hand over credit card and personal finance details online, and unsurprisingly the same number of people revealed that they had been targeted by cyber criminals and hackers.
Jeanette Jarvis, senior security systems product manager for Boeing, revealed that the modern day hacker is more motivated than his predecessors, who were mainly seeking notoriety. "Unprotected or under-protected computers are the new currency of the internet for organised crime," she said. Ms Jarvis also said that internet security providers face a constant battle to develop software capable or detecting and blocking harmful programmes. "There is no silver bullet. As soon as we create one tactic to stop them, they come up with a new way."
Help is at hand
Last week the government issued a new guide on internet security in collaboration with BT, Lloyds TSB, the Metropolitan Police and Yahoo. Advice includes:
- Be as cautious and sceptical about requests for information as you would be in the real world. If something appears too good to be true then it invariably is.
- Never pass on online security details to other people, especially if using a shared PC or living in shared accommodation.
- Changing internet passwords regularly boosts security immeasurably. Always veer away from using actual words as passwords, instead combine letters, numbers and symbols.
- Unwittingly downloading harmful programmes such as trojans by clicking on links can be avoided by never clicking on links, copy and paste the URL or use a search engine to find the site instead.
- Anti-spyware and antivirus programmes are often a PC's principal defence against malicious attacks, so ensure they are frequently updated to cover against the latest viruses. BT Internet Security Pack provices continually updated firewall and antivirus support
- Try not to leave broadband internet connections unattended for long periods of time, and if using a wireless modem make sure a 128-bit encryption is in place for banking online.
- Finally, if the worst comes to worst and your PC becomes infected and finances affected, there are a wide variety of professional organisations that can help, such as the police, online security providers and industry bodies.
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