Keeping Your Money Safe on the Internet

BY: Faris Al Ismaili, Allen Dunn, Qazi Nadeem, Meeran Tariq

INTRODUCTION

In an age where the world is controlled by the internet and devices like smart phones and tablets, it’s no surprise how popular e-commerce has become.

With all those transactions occurring online, the possibility for security to be compromised is very high.

INTRODUCTION

For this PowerPoint, we will focus on three particular areas where consumers spend a large amount of time:

buying products on the internet

paying bills on the internet

using online banking tools.

Our goal is to educate ourselves on the vulnerabilities that exist in online transactions involving money and how we can protect ourselves from possible identity theft.

BUYING PRODUCTS ONLINE

With websites like Amazon.com, the ability for a consumer to purchase products on the internet has never been greater.

With countless transactions taking place every day, it is necessary for the consumer to take certain steps to defend themselves from possible cyber attacks.

If a consumer’s computer is compromised with a virus, their information could easily be taken by and used without their consent.

BUYING PRODUCTS ON THE INTERNET

Shopping online is convenient for customers, which has lead to its growth. However it can be dangerous.

Customers who shop online provide sensitive information

EX: Email address, Street address, Credit card #

Sensitive information can be compromised online.

By hackers, fake websites, and viruses

BUYING PRODUCTS ON THE INTERNET

There are 4 types of e-commerce:

Business to Business (B2B)

EX: Levis clothes to Walmart

Business to Consumer (B2C)

EX: Walmart to Shopper

Consumer to Consumer (C2C)

EX: Craigslist or Ebay

Business to Government (B2G)

EX: Lockheedmartin to U.S Government

BUYING PRODUCTS ON THE INTERNET

4 Requirements for every e-commerce system

Privacy (Information must be safe from others)

Integrity (Information must be not be changed)

Authentication (Sender & receiver must validate identity)

Non-repudiation (Information must be proved to have been sent)

BUYING PRODUCTS ON THE INTERNET

According to a survey done by Australian Journal of Basic and applied sciences, these are the reasons why some people don’t shop online.

The absence of face-to-face contact between buyer and seller

Lack of opportunity to examine directly the merchandise or the seller’s premises

Goods cannot be collected immediately upon payment.

BUYING PRODUCTS ON THE INTERNET

Factors that would build trust between consumer and business.(in order of importance):

a return policy being clearly stated

guaranteed information confidentiality

virus protection during online transactions

safe online payment

an official body to handle online transaction complaints

How to Shop Online Safely

1. Ensure that you know the identity, location and contact details of the online retailer.

2. Find out more about a company's reputation.

3. Find out about billing, guarantees and delivery before you buy.

4. Read the site's privacy policy.

5. Only use secure websites if you are transferring funds via the site.

How to Shop Online Safely

6. Take care when entering information. Be sure to enter the correct details when typing in your order. An incorrect address, amount of items or wrong item code can cause many difficulties. Always review the information before pressing send.

7. Use a credit card with online fraud protection.

8. Install a Phishing Filter. There are various phishing filters, like SmartScreen Filter in Internet Explorer, which will help protect you from phishing sites by warning you when it detects a distrustful website.

9. Record purchase details. After purchasing your item, always record the details of the time, date, receipt number, and order confirmation.

10. Be aware of email scams designed to part you from your credit card information.

PAYING BILLS ON THE INTERNET

The ability to pay bills online is a nearly required item in today’s ever-increasing electronic environment. Younger generations do not want to receive a paper bill and send a check in as payment – this process is outdated and too slow.

They want to be able to pay their bill online and see that their account is settled immediately. Like buying products on the internet, paying bills online can also leave a consumer vulnerable.

Whenever personal information is placed on the internet there is the possibility that it can be compromised.

PAYING BILLS ON THE INTERNET

Using an online bill pay service from a reputable financial institution such as your bank or a well-known bill pay site is safer than handing your credit card to a waitress after a restaurant meal.

This is because these services take strong measures to keep your data secure while a person can easily lift your credit card or checking account information and use it to make unauthorized purchases.

PAYING BILLS ON THE INTERNET

Another selling point for online bill paying is the reduced impact on the environment.

An article in the journal National Wildlife stated that “…if all U.S. households viewed and paid their bills online

it would save 16.5 million trees

reduce fuel consumption by 26 million BTUs (enough energy to power the entire city of San Francisco for a year)

reduce toxic air pollutants by 3.9 billion pounds of greenhouse gases (equivalent to taking 355,000 cars off the road)

reduce toxic wastewater by 13 billion gallons.

Tips for Using Online Bill Pay Safely

Don't respond to any bill pay service that asks for personal or financial information directly from an email. Instead of clicking on email links, go directly out to the website and log in to update information.

Read the privacy or security policy of the bill pay service you're considering. The policy should mention strong data encryption and other measures used to protect you.

Don’t pay bills from a link in an email. Go out to the bill pay site and log in to make payments.

If a bill pay site offers to save the user name password for your account, bypass the offer. Always enter this information yourself. After you pay bills online, log out of your account to prevent anyone from accessing it if you leave your computer.

Tips for Using Online Bill Pay Safely

When using online bill pay services, it's a good idea to password protect your computer to at the operating system level.

Always use antivirus and firewall software.

Most online banking and bill pay service require you to answer some questions or to verify an image you selected earlier in addition to logging in with your user name and password. This can slow you down a bit, but it adds another layer of security.

Banking online moving forward

In order for banks to stay competitive they are quickly increasing their online and mobile banking options.  

However If access is obtained to a person’s online banking abilities they could have all of their money wiped out, leaving them with nothing.

Embracing Online Banking

Online banking has taken a firm hold in America, where most residents have reasonably easy access to a computer and the internet.

In developing countries it shows that they are embracing the tools of online banking.  

According to a survey published in the Indian Streams Research Journal, almost 2/3 of those surveyed indicated that they used online banking.  

Another 2/3 of that group stated that they “strongly agreed” that online banking was faster than branch banking.  

The survey also revealed that of those respondents who said they do not use online banking, many do not have access to a computer or do not have enough knowledge of the internet to do so (Indian Streams Research Journal, 2013).  

Causes and Solutions

An article in Constanta Maritime University Annals, highlighted several causes of the risk involved in e-banking services: “frauds, processing error, faults of the management system or other unforeseen causes that reset from the incapacity of Bank of transmitting its products or services.”

The report also highlighted a long list of items that must be in place to classify an informational system as secure.  This list included, but was not limited to: confidentiality, authentication, identification of the information and risk facts, authorized use policy, training, controls to prevent malicious code, and independent testing (Constanta Maritime University Annals, 2009).  

Who exactly is being targeted?

Anyone who's using the online banking services.

Cybercriminals have stepped up their efforts to get hold of users’ money. Credit card numbers, login details for online banking, passwords and codes – all this and more is being collected by malware.

Don’t Fall For It

An attacker can get access to financial information using several social engineering techniques.

A single banking Trojan designed to steal credentials is capable of cleaning out your online bank account.

One of the most popular methods of data theft is a mass mailing that looks like it has been sent by a bank.

If the link in the message is clicked, the website opens after a short delay. That delay is the time needed to redirect the link to an infected page where a malicious object is secretly downloaded onto the victim’s computer before carrying on to the bank.

Any data subsequently entered on the banking site will be stolen by the malware.

CONCLUSION

There are three areas in which consumers around the world conduct financial transactions:

buying products

paying bills

and using online banking tools.

The internet has made these three types of transactions so simple for the everyday consumer that it is a wonder people still choose to do things the “old-fashioned” way.

Despite the obvious advantages using the internet has for these transactions, it also comes with some associated risks.

Despite the efforts of banking institutions and online retailers, there is always the possibility that personal information will be compromised and used in an unauthorized manner.

As such, consumers should always ensure that the website (or online banking tool) they are using has adequate security measures in place before entering any personal information.

Bibliography

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BARBOLE, A. N., & PARAKH, S. D. (2013). THE STUDY OF CONSUMER'S PERSPECTIVE ABOUT INTERNET BANKING: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM WESTERN MAHARASHTRA. Indian Streams Research Journal, 3(3), 1-11.

Bazgosha, G., Eizi, N., Nawaser, K., & Parhizgar, M. (2012). Technology of e-banking: perspective of costumers' perceived risk and uncertainty. Indian Journal Of Science & Technology, 5(2), 2200-2208.

DOMINIC, B., & CRINA, R. (2009). SECURITY ASPECTS IN THE e-BANKING SYSTEM. Analele Universitatii Maritime Constanta, 10(12), 355-360.

Goudarzi, S., Ahmad, M., Soleymani, S., & Mohammadhosseini, N. (2013). Impact of Trust on Internet Banking Adoption: A Literature Review. Australian Journal Of Basic & Applied Sciences, 7(7), 334-347.

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