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Cyber Gangs Raise Profile of Commercial Online Bank Security
tsu doh nimh writes "The Washington Post's Security Fix blog has published a rapid-fire succession of investigative stories on the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars from companies, schools, and public institutions at the hands of organized cyber thieves and 'money mules,' willing or unwitting people recruited via online job scams. Some businesses are starting to challenge the financial industry's position that they are not responsible for online banking losses from things like keystroke logging malware that attacks customer PCs. Last week, a Maine firm sued its bank, saying the institution's lax approach to so-called multi-factor authentication failed after thieves stole $588,000 from the company, sending the money to dozens of money mules. The same group is thought to have taken $447,000 from a California wrecking company, whose bank also is playing hardball. Most recently, the Post's series outlined a sophisticated online system used by criminals to recruit, track and manage money mules."
I have a PayPal security key on my key chain, which I use whenever paying for something by PayPal. Most people do not realize that PayPal offers the option of using a security key. That multi-factor identification, which is where I need to know something and I also need to have something, to access the account. The security key generates a different 6-digit number every 30 seconds. So if someone managed to steal my password through a keystroke logger or a phishing email message, they would not have the security key that I keep in my pocket. If someone found my security key laying on the ground, they would not know my password.
https://www.paypal.com/securitykey
As for the alternative of getting in my answering the security questions for the account, I have used very hard to guess made up answers for the stupid security questions (I did not use real information).
An employee at the bank, where I have my checking account, recently suggested that I should do online banking. First I asked him if that would work with my computer which runs Linux, intead of Windows. He said Linux would work just fine. I then mentioned my concerns about security and the fake phishing emails that I get, which claim to be about my online banking account at their bank. I said, you know the ones that want me to click on some long complicated looking URL going to some foreign country, and then probably have me log-in and give them my user name and password. He said, "yes just ignore all of those fake email messages."
I also mentioned my concerns about keystroke loggers, although I added I have probably managed to secure my Linux computer, better than most average computer users do. However, a keystroke logger might still a slight possibility, even for my Linux computer, so I knew I wanted the additional protection of multi-factor authentication. I pulled my security key out of my pocket, and asked him if they offer two-factor authentication, using something like this. He said the did not offer anything like that. I told him that I would not feel comfortable doing online banking with them, because they do not offer multi-factor authentication.
Two-factor authentication may not be totally perfect, because most forms might still be vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle attack, but it would still be a major upgrade to their security. The cell phone plus 6-digit number in an SMS text message technique, that you said Bank One is using, also sounds great.