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[The Sheriff]

I was reading Aarons post last night about the exploits in internet banking. Without, obviously, giving anything away, just how safe is it?
Apart from the usual precautions of keeping your login details safe and your security up to date and changing your password, is there much else you can do?
And, of course, phishing emails.
Are you more likely to fall victim to a fraudster/hacker because your account is compromised or because of an attack on your bank?

And, finally, would we really all be better using a passbook account than internet banking? Inconvenient for you and the bank, I know, but would it be more secure to use one for, say, savings that you don't want to touch for a while as opposed to daily banking?

[Gaffers]

Here is my view on doing any important transactions online.

Banking:

- Only trust those services which provide 2 factor authentication
- Only use online banking on devices which are properly protected and do not use any software or OS that is pirate/copied from a mate/anything other than genuine
- Always use Anti-virus and/or Anti-malware on devices you use for banking
- Never respond direct to emails or click on links in them, always login via your known URLs (favourites or setup desktop shortcut)
- If your bank calls you asking for sensitive information always ask their name and department and get back to them through the official number for your bank not a number they give you (and call them back on a mobile phone if they called you on the land line)
- steer clear of contactless payment cards for now
- if you bank allows it, set limits for transactions before you are required to provide confirmation
- setup recording on your mobile phone for proof later on either in the case of fraud or to challenge your bank's version of events (you are legally allowed to record your own calls in this country regardless of what anyone calling you says and there is no requirement to tell them*)

* at the moment of posting

Email

- Always use 2 factor authentification
- use multiple addresses for different purposes ie one for bills and banking, one for your mates and another for forums, special offer signups, etc

to be continued........