How safe is your online bank account?

Some of the most frequent questions regarding e-banking are about online security. Is your hard-earned money safe? Can someone steal your confident information and withdraw your funds? Let’s see how internet banks ensure online security and prevent unauthorized transactions. 

Online banking makes our lives easier. This service, provided by many banks and lending institutions, allows us to conduct banking transactions over the Internet using a computer or a cell telephone. You may be able to manage your account, apply for loans, or pay bills quickly from the comfort of your home. 

On the other hand, online banking also makes it easier for criminals to access you funds. Forget about gangsters with masks and guns – all they need is a computer! However, while we all have heard numerous stories and rumors about e-thieves withdrawing money from online accounts, the reality is that online banking and transactions are much more secure than the mass media often makes them out to be. 

Internet banks use both physical and technical security measures to make sure that your online transactions remain safe, secure and private. These measures include:

When you conduct transactions online, your information is encrypted. It provides a high degree of confidentiality because all data transmitted between your browser and the bank becomes unreadable. You can be sure that no one who may be able to spy on the data transmission will understand the SSL encryption. This protocol requires the exchange of what are called public and private keys. 

An SSL equipped server can identify itself to anyone who visits it with the help of a digital certificate - an electronic "passport". It means that you can check that you have connected to the server you wanted to reach. 

Any online bank has a system of firewalls that inspects network traffic passing from the Internet to their private internal system. They verify the source of incoming information and its destination. If some packet of information is flagged by the filters, it will not be let through. This way, all internal information is protected from hacker attacks. In addition, firewalls record all activity within online banking, making it easier to track any suspicious activity.

Before enrolling to online banking, you will need to create a unique user ID rather than use your Social Security number. You must also create a password that you can change as often as you want. Passwords are a unique combination of characters that you need to enter to get access

Typically, if unsuccessful login is attempted more than three times, your internet account will be locked.

It is a form of authentication that requires more than just one independent piece of information to verify your identity. For example, in addition to a password, banks can require you to enter the answer to a secret question. 

Real-time alerts will let you monitor specific activity on your account. There are basically two types of alerts: bank-initiated and optional. 
Bank-initiated alerts provide an additional security layer by reporting any critical changes related to the account, for example a change of address. Optional alerts are set up by an account holder to stay updated on his/her banking transactions. For example, you can get SMS alerts about payment due dates or deposit maturity dates. 

If your session is left idle for a set period of time, you will be logged out automatically (typically, after 10-20 minutes of inactivity). In order to continue your session, you will need to log in again. 

As you see, banks use multiple layers of protection to prevent security breaches and unauthorized transactions. However, don’t forget that you also need to pay attention to online security to avoid phishing scam or identity theft.