How to protect yourself while banking online

Introduction

With the Internet entering every home, business, or any form of establishment, it is now being utilized within every line of business. Banks have introduced an increasingly popular form of banking through the Internet; Internet Banking use has grown exponentially within the last decade. Along with the advancement in security & technology has come the increased creativity in bypassing measures taken by banks and IT firms to protect us from online criminals. Nothing is 100% secure when it comes online technologies, however there are measures users can take to make these criminals "go through hell" (so to speak) before they steal a dime.

By: Ali A. Bashiti

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Tips & Warnings:

If you don't intend on using Internet Banking for performing financial transactions, talk to a Bank representative about setting up your account to accommodate you with ONLY inquiry based functions. For example, they may set up your online access to include inquiries related to account balances, bill information, account statements, etc... thus denying access to financial transaction functions such as bill payment, transfers, etc...
An example of Step 4 (mobile passwords) can be seen with Bank Of America's 'SafePass' service.
Keep all personal information PERSONAL at all times
Never loan, lose, or share your mobile phone if used as an authentication method.
Never loan, lose, or share your token device.
If you lose your mobile phone contact your telecom provider immediately for disconnection.
If you lose your token device contact the Bank immediately for deactivation.

Step1

Security should be your number one concern when using the Internet... Read this "How to..." article before moving forward. These are the absolute basics to protecting you and your PC when surfing the web. http://www.ehow.com/how_2128272_surf-web-more-securely-free.html

Step2

If they don't know your personal info, they can't use it against you. Be sure to keep all sensitive information such as passwords, social security number, even your mother's maiden name (which is commonly not known to many) away from anyone but yourself. Side Note: I personally work as a Business/Technical Analyst for an IT firm who has acquired our services related to Internet Banking; I countlessly hear how most online fraud cases relating to their customers are due to close friends or family members who have some how obtained customer's critical information. So keep hush hush about it.

Step3

If you don't have a strong password, you don't have a strong will to protect yourself from online fraud. Although passwords are a series of characters that give access to a forbidden, it is also meant to deny access to a forbidden. So please select a password that fulfills both purposes; this can be done by choosing a "Strong" password. Strong passwords typically don't mean anything when typed: For example 'FeW4@%sA' means nothing to humans, but 'alibashiti' my very own name means a lot. Strong passwords are a mixture of both low-case and Upper-case letters. Strong passwords also contain numbers and special characters (e.g $dS3%ssF#)

Step4

Another little tip to make online criminals face a hard time when attempting to steal your money Some Banks offer a service that authenticates your financial transactions via your personal mobile phone. An example of such authentication occurs as follows: 1. You activate your personal mobile number through your Bank's Internet Banking website (an activation code will be sent to your mobile number and requested for input within the website); this is done in order to ensure that the number you entered is in fact within your possession. 2. You initiate a financial transaction, perhaps you desire to pay a bill, or transfer money to a loved one. Upon submitting all details related to the transaction an SMS with a one time password / code will be sent to your activated mobile phone. 3. Enter the one time password / code received through your mobile and submit once again. 4. If entered correctly your transaction will be processed; otherwise the transaction will be rejected. In conclusion, if the Bank has a secure 'activation' process when updating your mobile number, this authentication method should worth opting in for.

Step5

Possibly the most secure authentication method when performing financial transaction online. Security Tokens: Although there are many types of security tokens, they encompass similar logic / objectives when authenticating a user. The tokens are synchronized with the Bank's related IT environment, they are unique to a particular user, and behave in a random fashion. An example of such authentication occurs as follows: 1. Firth thing's first, you need to request / order your token from your Bank. As strange as it is, although there are still some Banks that offer such devices to ONLY corporate customers, if insisted upon by customers they might be able to make an exception, as technically in some cases the Internet Banking website is capable of making exceptions to particular users. So please insist on obtaining this device from your Bank. 2. You initiate a financial transaction, perhaps you desire to pay a bill, or transfer money to a loved one. Upon submitting all details related to the transaction you will be requested to enter the code displayed on your token; depending on the type of token you may have to enter a password in order to display the code on your token. I will not discuss the technical aspects of tokens, but know that unless online criminals have your token, they will not be able to perform monetary transactions without it. 3. Enter the one time code displayed on your token device. 4. If entered correctly your transaction will be processed; otherwise the transaction will be rejected. In conclusion, for high-worth individuals, this authentication method is a 'must have'.