Banking in old times was quite simpler, where depositing and borrowing money was an easy task. Individual used to walk to the banks and direct deposit or borrow their money. But with the advent of technology and new economic systems, banking has become more complicated and used on a daily basis. Banks have now become the global financial powerhouses that are used 24x7 and on 365 days a year through ATMs, net banking, and credit cards. The modern system of banking is thoroughly based on the digitalization of funds which has also opened doors for hackers for various types of cybercrime. Cyber crimes such as ATM frauds, Credit card frauds, and cyber money laundering are quite frequent. Here are the particular measures to be followed to prevent the cyber crimes related to banking.
1. ATM Card Frauds:
Educating and updating customers about the possible risks and ways to prevent frauds is essential as a large number of customers rely on ATMs for financial transactions Following tips should be followed,
A) Update your pin and login details continuously at least once in three months.
B) Look for any suspicious attachments to avoid skimming devices that steal the information stored on card’s magnetic strip.
C) Look for the hidden cameras attached by hackers and deny any help from any stranger bystander. That person can be a hacker who can retrieve your pin by faking to help.
D) Do not linger & minimize your time at ATM. If you want to update your records of the transaction, do it at home.
E) Keep the habit of checking your transaction records after every transaction.
2. Net banking:
The modern-day technique is not yet foolproof. But to avoid frauds follow these tips,
A) Change your login details & password constantly, at least once or twice a month.
B) Always keep your firewall settings active. Install a genuine antivirus, anti-spyware software to keep your computer safe from various Trojan viruses, spyware, and malware.
C) Do not any confidential personal information on social media sites. Keep the security setting as private.
D) Never leave your cell phones unattended. Never store any passwords, pins on mobiles.
E) Do not use net banking while using the public wi-fi.
F) Think twice before you click on any suspicious file. Check the source of the message and avoid if it’s unfamiliar.
3. Credit Card Fraud:
A) Always ask for a photo ID with the credit card to check the authenticity of a person.
B) Do not accept the cards with tampered or smeared signature. Compare the signatures.
C) Check credit card's embossing. If you find any Ghost images of other numbers behind embossing means, the card is re-embossed.
D) Check the number of the presented credit card with the list of the stolen credit cards.
E) Destroy all the carbon copies of the credit card for safety.
F) While accepting card details through phone or the internet, do not take a card with incomplete information. Call the customer to confirm the order if the shipping and billing addresses are different.
G) Be aware of large orders of orders with multiple cards to the same billing address.
4. Preventive measures should be taken by the banks to curb the cyber crimes:
The effective preventive measures against cyber crimes are as follows,
A) Cryptographic methods of security should be used to cipher the data to protect the computer information from computer trespasses. With the help of sophisticated mathematical algorithms, deciphering the security code to steal the data becomes more difficult.
B)The phishing attacks against banking systems are increasing. To prevent them, request confirmation of personal or financial information with the highest urgency. Do not indulge in any kids of email or messages from unknown senders and avoid any attractive popups.
C) To remove the created ‘watering holes’ by criminals on your website, keep a stringent check and keep on updating your website or net banking app. Using standard malware defenses or a secure VM can be a good tactic against such attacks
D) Using Pharming technique, criminals hijack banks URLs and redirect the users to an imposter website. So, whiles using a particular relevant banking website or any website related to banking and finances, always check the URLs for safety. The page which requires the personal information always has the address as Https://, where the extra ‘s’ stands for the word ‘secure.'
E) To avoid the DDoS attacks against banking systems, banks should have a scrubbing service or a cleaning provider to handle the attacks to great volumes. Using a dedicated DDoS mitigation appliance can isolate and remediate attacks quickly. The DDoS security devices provide an additional layer of security.
F) To prevent the latest malware such as ‘Man in the browser’ & ‘Hand of the thief,' strengthening the anti-virus and anti-malware defense system is advised.
G) Keep on updating and gathering new defense technologies to conquer the flood of cyber attacks. A bank can also hire a specialist who is well versed in hacking and can devise plans to curb the cyber crimes against the ban
H) The ongoing cyber wars and crimes cannot be eliminated 100%. As the new defense systems will be created, hackers will keep on devising new technique and programs to crack these systems. All in our hand is the method of prevention. In cyberspace, the prevention is the only remedy as the cure has the negligible effect after a crime is done. Being updated on new hacking as well as defense techniques and following certain preventive measure for the safety can save a lot of money and stress.
The cyber crime is proving a huge menace even to the big multinational corporations and governments of superpower nations. The continual expansion of technology and the extensive pace of the evolving nature of cyber crimes is worrisome. At the individual level, we need to prepare ourselves at least with the basic understanding the methodology of such crimes. Experts, media, and government need to understand the gravity of such crimes and their ever-expanding spectrum and start working on a counter-strategy together. Only a united and coherent approach directed towards the mass awareness can make a difference and curb the cyber crimes.
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