Internet Banking
By Marvin
Much have been said or commented in the papers recently on the 5 working days for all banks in the country.
Bank employees are welcoming that ruling of course much to the disappointment of a percentage from the public.
Although some might say that Saturday is when they can do their banking errands, but a fraction of them also work on Saturdays itself.
Personally, I prefer going to the bank on Saturday too if there's anything related or must be performed at the branches.
However, I still perform most of my financial transactions online. It's faster, easier, and most importantly, more convenient.
Doing your banking online is nothing new, which has hit
Malaysia
years ago. Most of the concern from people, I believe, is the security of the internet banking application.
There are some that I know of that still does not trust internet banking although being software developers themselves….
Whatever concern there could be, the most important thing is education. Bank Negara
Malaysia
has indeed helped in offering public awareness on everything related to the country's banking industry.
Learn more on Bank Negara at www.bnm.gov.my and Banking Information at www.bankinginfo.com.my
Internet Banking, how secured it is?
Have you ever done any online transaction? Online shopping? Ebay? Paypal?
If you have not ever done any of the above and not intending to, waste no further to read on….
How secure a tool is only as far as how well you know how to use the tool itself.
How you hold a knife to use it will determine how safe it is, right?
Password / PIN
Just like your ATM card or email account, your internet banking account will has its own login password or PIN.
Revealing it or keeping it somewhere which is possible to being revealed to others is not very secured… Give me your password….. If only you like me or anybody to use it without your knowledge.
So keep the password / PIN in your brain memory only. If you've forgotten it there still should be ways to reset it or change it. Just do not give it to anybody other than yourself.
Usage Duration / Session
Keep your online banking usage duration short if you do not trust but still need to continue. Do whatever you need, and get out FAST!!
There are ways for hackers to hijack your session if you do not really know how well your PC is directly connected to the internet banking server. The risks posed mostly to computers which go through a proxy server for internet connection.
Going through another machine could open a window for others to see what you're doing therefore enabling to be a middle person, getting all the information you send and changing it or keeping it for later use.
By keeping the window of danger short, you will decrease the risk of others hacking your account.
Network Connection
If you do not know how you're connected to the internet, I can't help you much.
Basically, if you do a dial-up, a direct broadband connection at home, you're safe. Not 100% safe, but eaves-dropping if it ever happened, could be done only by your internet provider themselves.
Using hotspot, wireless connection of some others is not safe.
Using office network connection is not safe.
Using your local network with a proxy whereby the administrator is a computer expert and a dishonest one, might not be safe also.
Phishing
Yes, it sounds just like fishing, the act of others fishing your account login and password.
There are emails circulating around or websites directing you to bank websites looking like legitimate ones, where in fact they are not. If you click onto the email link for fake websites, you are duped into giving them your login id and password.
Nobody should ever ask for your password for any purpose like validation except from the main login page.
So make sure you type the internet banking URL into the browser yourself and make sure the URL you typed is the correct one. Anything other than the one you type yourself is not safe.
How to determine you are safe.
Know your connection. If you think you're in a public network but still need to continue, suffer the consequences yourself.
You typed the URL which is a correct one yourself into the browser URL bar.
The connection or login screen is HTTPS. (Normal web-browsing is HTTP, HTTPS is a secured connection, and information is encrypted from your browser to the server and vice-versa).
There is a padlock icon at the bottom bar of your internet browser.
Do not leave the browser open or your session idle if suddenly you need to do something else, like taking the call of nature.
Do want you need to do altogether, log out and clear the browser cache. The bank logout page should clearly guide you how to clear them if you do not know.
CLOSE the browser.
Banks' systems must strictly adhere to Bank Negara's rules, regulations, and audit. The banks' systems also need to be audited by a third party to ensure that it is safe from hackers and other loopholes.
The frequent auditing and checking on the internet banking system ensures that the system is safe for public usage.
Whatever the concern is, by using it properly and smartly, the convenience of internet banking outweighs traditional banking incredibly.
No parking woes, long queues, saves your time, saves the environment!
For more education, visit:
Central Bank site www.bnm.gov.my
Banking Info site www.bankinginfo.com.my
Banking Info Internet Banking page http://www.bankinginfo.com.my/index.php?ch=20&pg=32
Marvin Lee's site www.marvin.name.my
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About Marvin
Find out more at http://marvin.name.my.
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