subject: Protect Your Investments With Secure Online Banking [print this page] Many companies are conducting all of their financial business online in areas ranging from taking payments for goods or services to transferring funds and paying bills or staff wages. You are putting complete faith into the security of your banking systems.
We are saved an awful lot of time and effort by being able to use the internet to carry out banking requirements. Gone are the days of queuing in banks for hours to make a simple transfer or to set up a standing order. Many businesses have been able to trade with the help of the internet as paying for goods or services has never been easier. With all this freedom has come internet fraud.
Internet fraud is always going to be a concern; criminals are always going to be hacking into systems from remote locations putting investments at risk. The main threats to the business user and general members of the public online are phishing, malware and identity theft.
Phishing is when the cyber criminal has set up a website and an email address that mimics a bank or financial institution; it then sends emails to the customer asking for personal details. Links have been put into place that enables the criminal to extract highly sensitive information in order to steal money. This can be highly damaging to the business user if it is caught up in such as a scam, an event like this can damage the reputation of a company badly.
Malware is damaging software, if you are sent an email that links to an unsecure site, or you simply visit an unsecure site; a virus can be activated that gives the cyber criminal access to banking details and passwords. In effect your whole bank account could then be emptied in minutes, this sort of threat is damaging to internet trading as the consumer needs to be able to trust the systems in place. Anti-virus software must be in place with all your websites and throughout merchant accounting. Any email providers and banking services must also be protected.
Identity fraud is helped by a combination of phishing and malware or by criminals thieving information such as personal details from bins. Many people discard bank statements and bills for example, these documents can be used to set up financial accounts. The criminals can then go online and use the new identity to obtain cash.
As a business it is your responsibility to protect your customers and your own investments by operating a secure website and only using secure banking systems.
by: Alan Trotter
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