Should You Skip Out On Internet Banking?
from the fear-the-unknown dept
A security researcher is now claiming that everyone should avoid online banking because “it’s no longer safe”. The “no longer” part is a bit misleading, as he also says a home computer was “never” designed to be safe enough for online banking. The response, though, from a bankers’ association (obviously a bit biased) seems to make a lot more sense. They point out that nothing online is completely secure, but that if users take the proper precautions they should be pretty safe. The proper response, then, is that these banks should do as much of that work as possible in getting their users up to speed on safer surfing techniques. However, to completely write-off online banking seems a bit excessive. Improving security should definitely be a priority, but that doesn’t mean that the current solution doesn’t work for now.
Comments on “Should You Skip Out On Internet Banking?”
Internet Banking Safety
The article casting doubt upon the world of online banking was from an Australian newspaper called “The Advertiser” whose scare-mongering is probably designed to sell newsprint more than inform of any unknown weaknesses in modern banking. It certainly isn’t a trade journal of the banking industry, and avoids specifics of its allegations. It is an opinion, nothing more.
And paying bills through the mail IS safe????
Let’s see, put a bill in your mailbox half exposed to the elements out in a semi-public mailbox, trust a government employee to come by and pick it up, have the same government entity route that bill through a tangled maze of machinery and other workers hands only to repeat the process of delivery by another government employee on the other end to the said payee. Not to think of the handling and data entry involved by the payee’s clearing house and / or accounts receivable department.
At any of these steps your privacy and credit rating can be comprimised – Imagine a pissed off postal worker tossing a handful of your bills out in the trash rather than delivering them to get a good picture.
I think a PC running anti-spyware, anti-virus software behind a good firewall using 128 bit encryption to do a direct transfer is a better bet than paying your bills by mail.
Online Banking
I work in tech support for online banking at a major bank. It is amazing how many people call in using Win98, Cable or DSL, IE 6, and NO AV or Firewall. These people call in very frustrated because “They haven’t made any changes to their computer and they could sign in last week” but are having problems now. When we suggest they look at Firewalls and AV, they reply “it must be your site”. And then they start complaing about “all the pop ups they get”. There are a LOT of people with unsecured computers using high speed connections out there now. It’s a growing problem.
No Subject Given
It’s funny. I keep hearing scare-monger stories about how unsafe online commerce is, but very little in the way of real people losing real money. Conversely, I’ve seen several stories about local people who have had their debit cards double-swiped or swiped in a hacked machine that records the card info and pin.
Re: Mellon Bank
stb,
I could NOT have said what you said better !
I too work in tech support for an online bank and it is unbelievable how many people have high speed access and don’t have a clue about how to use their computer.
If I have to start the troubleshooting with: ” Ok, lets look for the big blue E icon on your desktop ” and they shoot back: ” Whats that ? ” I know its going to be a 45 minute phone call to simply get them signed into the account.
I’ve used online banking now for about 2 years and do not see how this is any more unsafe than other methods as pointed out by a previous poster.