Online banking? Better check your anti-virus software now

Looks like the banks won't be paying much out in fraud losses. A lot more unix systems get 'looked at' rather than damaged and the Mac has come under increasing attention of malware writers. Recent demo's by hackers have showed that pretty well anything is hopelessly open season these days. No-one is safe. That handy sum you pay to your anti-virus vendor each year never gives any guarantee of protection anyway.

Research* findings suggest that:

• 87 percent of respondents felt extremely or somewhat confident in their ability to recognise a fake email. In practice, however, 61 percent failed to correctly identify a legitimate email

• 97 percent of respondents failed to correctly identify a secure and safe website and 58 percent of respondents remained vulnerable on the Internet because of an over-reliance on the appearance of a ‘padlock’ on a website as their only indication of a secure site

• 80 percent of respondents in a separate study (AOL/NCSA 2005) said they did not practice most of those security protocols even though over 80 percent of consumers stated they understood that not opening unsolicited email, using security software and ensuring that such software remained updated were all integral to preventing internet fraud.

*Data from the Online fraud report (National Cyber Security Alliance and Bank of America 2006) and the 2005 IC3 internet fraud crime report (Federal Trade Commission 2006).

In the former, it was noted that approximately one in 10 Americans use the Internet and conduct a number of online financial transactions. Consumers may be keen to embrace a security solution which doesn't require constant software updates and endless password and PINS and the bank which provides it.

If this 'at the risk of the user' policy is the industry's response to internet fraud, there may be a some customer losses, both the customers losing money and the banks losing the customers......as well as higher costs to service the ones who stay.
One bank's loss will be anothers opportunity.