Deutsche Bank has come out top in a study conducted by The Fraunhofer Institute on how well German banks support Web banking customers in protecting against online scams such as phishing.
The Sparda Bank of Hamburg came last in the study of the online security measures in place at twelve German banking sites.
Eleven criteria were assessed, including technical design, where points were awarded if the URL was visible at all times and the domain name remaining constant during the session. Points were also awarded for SSL connections if the server transmitted a valid certificate and the login site was already protected. In addition, banks scored points if customers could use their own banking software.
According to the study, one Web site was "unsatisfactory", five were "sufficient", while five bank sites were considered to be "satisfactory". Only Deutsche Bank was rated as "very good".