[pchelpers] News:Consumers rue rampant hack attack

December 22, 2007
Garima Dutt
Saturday, December 22, 2007 (New Delhi)
Last week saw a 12-member gang getting arrested in Karnataka, after it
was found that they had been using cyber cafes to hack into bank
accounts.

They'd made transfers worth lakhs, defrauding unsuspecting cyber cafe
users.

The recent incidents make it clear that one dare not use public
computers for online banking or any financial transactions.

Though there are precautions that users can take in order to make online
transactions safe, they may not be enough for public computers, wherein
simple software could be installed without users knowledge.

This is software that can track all keyboard commands made at a
particular computer thus allowing hackers to read passwords entered even
days earlier.

In fact, all online banking sites forbid their clients from using
computers in cybercaf s and other public places like hotels, airports
and unprotected office computers.

''We would love that people should avoid using public computers at
cybercaf s for online banking and if they do so then they should change
their passwords from their personal computer after that and follow other
authentication measures that their site has to offer to them,'' said
Pravir Vohra, Group Chief Technology Officer, ICICI Bank.

But even with personal computers it's better to be safe than sorry. The
consumers can take steps to ensure that their investments are not
endangered.

      * Don't use online banking when others can see you
      * Change your password at least once a month.]
      * Don't reveal your password to anyone.
      * Do not share your passwords with anyone 
      * Do not use obvious names, numbers
      * Use a combination of numbers and lower case and capital letters.
      * Don't reply to e-mail asking personal information
      * Make sure web page has padlock symbol at the bottom right.
      * Don't just exit browser, remember to sign out.
        
        ''There is a lot that customers can do to ensure that the entire
        process is seamless and hassle-free for them and for us as well.
        For instance, we tell our customers to type the URL of the
        website themselves and not click on links. 
        
        ''Customers should not respond to any kind of solicitous mails
        or phishing emails of any sort that ask for their personal
        information. We also suggest that customers should not download
        any unlawful, unlegal software programmes on their computers
        through which criminals can inject Trojans in their PC and get
        personal information,'' said Pravir Vohra.
        
        Online banking and commerce has made life a lot simpler, saving
        time, making transactions more efficient and it can continue to
        be so as long as we follow the simple rules of cyber safety. 
        
        Sourced from:
        
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070036656&ch=12/22/2007%205:26:00%20PM
-- 
John Durham
Site http://modecideas.com
Server hosted on Ubuntu 4.10
Good advice is like good paint. It only works when applied.



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