Is Cyberbanking Really Safe? Find out the Risks
With the ease of transaction of cyberbanking, there comes the backlash of cyber and identity theft. Be aware and stay safe with the proper measures of cyber security.
Banking has become easy with all the cyberbanking facilities gripped in a device that’s always with you. You give a missed call to know the transaction details or send an SMS for any other update. But are you giving a second thought over the security concerns? As per a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve, the half of the smartphone users are completely relying on their devices for all the bank transactions. Going by the criminal records, incidents of a bank being looted over gunpoint are comparatively less these days. But does that mean there is a significant decrease in bank thefts? The answer is a big 'no' as there are reports of cybercrimes among which unidentified bank transactions and identity theft are very common. So, if you are being assured that your bank is under your easy control and management, then think twice as con artists have moved a step ahead.
Identity theft
If you are still not aware of what is identity theft then let’s begin with a quick introduction. As the term says it’s a form of theft where a person’s identity is the target of criminals. Identity is a broad term and to be specific the personal details of a person is at stake here. Criminals steal the identities for using them in fraudulent activities for personal gain. Before, when everything was in the offline mode there was lesser risk of this, as you used to fill up the paper form in the bank where the details were stored under the vigilance of the bank. But with online transactions becoming a convenient way of banking, the risk of data loss leads to identity theft at a large scale.
What kind of information are at risk
These fraudulent activities are conducted with some basic information about individuals. As per reports, this is the main reason why people are not much aware of these kinds of activities of information sharing. Take an instance where you date of birth is asked. Will you think twice before telling it or do you even consider it as a personal and non-disclosing data? Experts say that the usual answer remains, no. This opportunity is grabbed by criminals. As you know many places require a DOB verification and this information is used here by fraudsters. Other sensitive informative data include email address, PIN or passwords. Many times there are reports of hard drives missing from discarded computers. This is another catch for criminals and with the data gained, they are able to infect more computers by gathering malware and use emails to spread threatening and spam emails.
How the criminals spread their cobweb
There are various ways adopted by the hackers to generate information from users. Mass emails are sent in a way that it seems to be sent by banks. Usually, there’s a link provided where you are asked to give your personal details. This single click will take you to the scammer website and that’s where you submit all the details unknowingly. Scammers particularly work under the name of reputed banks to gain that trust and churn out the information of account details and password. With these details, they often open another account with which they run all the fraudulent activities. There have been reports, where people have even shared their credit card details and ended up falling into a big scam when that credit card is used for fraud practices.
Limit the use of third-party apps
There are many third-party apps that promise fast transaction and hassle-free operation. But wait before you jump into one of them and start using it. User authentication is an integral process and the bank apps you use have special security features. As per reports, the third party apps lack this and that’s where you go wrong. These apps have various complaints about storing user data. Your data gets stored in these systems and the data privacy is lost. Cybersecurity experts say, sometimes you simply download some apps and make yourself an easy prey. This is known as Keylogger software. As per reports, there are certain apps that start recording the keystrokes, once downloaded. While doing this, the password and many personal info are leaked to the hacker.
Not just adults are at risk
The youngsters who are not at an age of handling banking transactions, get emails of preapproved credit cards. Such reports are very common in the US and the authorities say that parents should take a stern action against these. There have been incidents where victims of identity theft are children below 8 years. In such cases, the child’s social security number is stolen. As per a study, around 60% of the child victims know who the real culprit is as it is found out that it is often some distant family member who has the personal details of the child. Authorities suggest that parents should report such things immediately and assure that actions are taken to stop such a massacre.
What security measures can you adopt?
Start using the direct app rather than using the third-party apps for transaction purpose. Make sure that the bank apps you are using passes through a two-step authentication system to reconfirm that it is the user who is doing the transaction.
Ensure that the alerts are turned whenever there is a transaction done. When you are using a new vendor, the bank should send an alert at your registered mobile number asking about the vendor’s authentication.
Experts say that you must keep your software in the latest updated version to avoid the hacks to some extent.
The passwords you are using for the phone and the app must be strong. Experts say that there’s a reason why the passwords are asked to keep strong. People avoid this step thinking that it would be difficult to remember. But such reluctance can cost you high as predictable passwords are easily cracked by hackers.
Avoid those fraudulent calls. There have been instances where unknown numbers call you up and say that they are calling from a security agency or from the bank and ask for your card details and password. To make the calls more convincing, they say that they are calling up to confirm your identity and to make sure your account is safe. Never ever fall for these and report these numbers to cybersecurity authorities.
Experts' verdict: Deception Technology is a solution
This is a technology introduced to trick the criminals in their own plan and use the system to get hold of these criminals. Fake credentials are set and whenever the criminals tried to gain access they are unable to do it. The security is connected to this system. Whenever through this technology the scammer tries to access an account, the alter reaches the security team and immediate action is taken in response.
Despite all the measures and awareness, people tend to make mistakes. Experts say that whenever there’s the question of financial matters, people start to panic and that’s the source of mistakes. Being alert is the need of the hour. Never save passwords in the device. The cybersecurity experts say it’s time to make the children aware of the activities as they are being an easy target of the scammers.